Learned, Loved, Loathed: Mississippi State 42, Texas A&M 24

Looking back on what was learned, loved and loathed from Texas A&M's 42-24 loss to Mississippi State on Saturday:

Learned

A&M’s secondary is vulnerable: The Aggies entered the game ranked No. 11 in the nation in pass defense. However, the secondary was exposed by Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers. He passed for 329 yards and three touchdowns. One of his touchdown passes covered 75 yards. Even with A&M typically dropping eight into coverage, Rogers still found holes. However, the Aggies' secondary played much of the game without Jaylon Jones, who suffered an injury early in the game.

A&M’s pass rush is anemic: Some blame can be placed on defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin for usually only rushing three. As a result, the Aggies did not manage a sack and were credited with just three quarterback pressures.

Devon Achane is fallible: Achane doesn’t make many miscues, but he lost a big fumble inside the Mississippi State 5-yard line. The turnover wasted an opportunity for the Aggies to take a 7-0 lead.

Loved

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

Devon Achane (132) and Moose Muhammad (119) accounted for 251 of A&M’s 388 total offensive yards. 

Achane’s hard running: Achane atoned for his early miscue. He rushed for 111 yards on 16 carries for a 6.9-yard average per attempt.

Moose Muhammad bounced back from a bad game in last week’s win over Arkansas with a superb outing against Mississippi State. He set career highs with six catches for 119 yards. He also scored a touchdown on an 18-yard catch.

The game was televised on the SEC Network, while Alabama and Arkansas played on another network. That way, a smaller viewing audience saw the disappointing loss.

Loathed

Missed opportunities: A&M reached the Mississippi State 4- and 15-yard lines before losing fumbles in the first half. A potential touchdown pass was dropped in the third quarter. A fumble recovery and return at the Mississippi State 25-yard line ended a disaster. The Aggies were unable to move the football. The subsequent field goal attempt was blocked and returned for a touchdown.

A poor effort on the blocked field goal: OK, so Mississippi State cornerback Emmanuel Forbes MIGHT have been offsides on the block that resulted in the Bulldogs' touchdown. However, the right end on the Aggies' line failed to block him from coming in off the edge. The end never moved his feet and only raised his right arm in a half-hearted attempt at a block. His responsibility may have been to prevent an inside rush, but the blocked field goal and touchdown staked Mississippi State to a 21-3 lead.

Third-down inefficiency: A&M converted just twice in nine third-down situations.