MSU sticks to formula by limiting high-powered Aggies

STARKVILLE – Jay Hughes revealed a strategy to stop one of the most prolific offenses in the country. Hughes believed slowing down Texas A&M on first and second down would lead to struggles on third down.

The senior brought it to light last week, but it's a formula Mississippi State used all season. MSU owns the eighth best opponent's third down conversion rate in the country.

Saturday, the Bulldogs faced their toughest test. The Aggies converted on 54 percent of their third downs this season – seventh best in the nation.

Hughes was right as MSU stumped Kenny Hill and Texas A&M on third down en route to a 48-31 victory.

"We knew it was going to be huge," MSU coach Dan Mullen said. "We wanted to get near their receivers and create a pass rush."

Texas A&M had only allowed three sacks heading into the second top-15 matchup ever at Davis Wade Stadium. Keeping Hill upright this season helped the sophomore put up a 17-2 touchdown to interception ratio.

The Aggies returned to College Station, Texas with worse numbers in all three categories: sacks allowed, interceptions and third down conversion-rate.

The Bulldogs sacked Hill four times and picked him off three times. It all amounted to A&M converting on 5 of 17 third downs.

"We wanted to create some discomfort for them out there and no just let Kenny sit back there and pick us apart," Mullen said.

The final stats for the Aggies are still impressive. Hill finished with 365 yards passing with four touchdowns. He needed 62 attempts to net those totals. Hill averaged 5.8 yards per attempt against Mississippi State. He averaged 9.7 yards per attempt coming into the game.

"Statisically we're still not going to be very good in pass defense," Mullen said. "… Even though statistics might not read it, I thought our guys in the back end and our coaches did a great job."

Mississippi State held the second best scoring offense in the country to 17 points through three quarters. The Aggies scored on their opening drive but MSU recovered. Texas A&M finished with 143 yards on its two scoring drives in the first half. Its other six drives only gained 105 yards.

The trend continued throughout the game. Hill led two meaningless fourth-quarter scores that totaled 106 yards. Prior to the late scores, A&M's six drives out of halftime resulted in four punts, an interception and a touchdown.

"The secondary did good so the D-line could do good," linebacker Richie Brown said. "The whole team, it was a great team effort."

Brown picked off Hill three times. The Bulldogs now have nine interceptions in five games. The four sacks push the total to 18. MSU finished with 16 in the regular season.

The defense stopped a run-heavy offense two weeks ago to beat then-No. 8 LSU. It slowed down a pass-happy No. 6 Texas A&M offense. Now it continues its efforts against a different offense in Auburn.

"Overall I thought our defense did pretty well," Mullen said. "But we're going to have a huge challenge again with our third different offensive style in three weeks."

Contact Michael Bonner at (601) 961-7289 or mbonner@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @MikeBBonner on Twitter.