What’s the consequence of beating a top-10 nationally ranked team on the road? National attention of your own.
All eyes will be turned to Starkville this coming Saturday as the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Texas A&M Aggies battle in a top-15 showdown at Davis Wade Stadium for the first time since 1986.
Coming off an impressive victory in Baton Rouge, expectations for MSU have hit an all-time high, and the SEC knows this. In addition to the hyped-up game, SEC Nation will  broadcast live from the Junction Saturday morning. This will be the first time a football pregame show has ever been hosted in Starkville.
But this is all just the beginning. Perhaps the most anticipated MSU football game in recent memory will kickoff at 11 a.m. With all this unprecedented attention, the team cannot stray from focusing on its next opponent, Texas A&M.
Even though the game is at home, this will be the Bulldogs’ toughest test yet in the early SEC schedule, and Head Coach Dan Mullen knows it. 
“You look at a team that’s coming in that’s an unbelievable offensive football team,” Mullen said. “They have weapons everywhere.”
Texas A&M comes into Saturday boasting the second-best team nationally in scoring points per game (51). What makes this offense click is quarterback and Heisman candidate Kenny Hill.
Hill comes in leading the SEC with 1,745 passing yards and 118 completions. He has three outstanding receivers to throw to in Malcolm Kennedy, Edward Pope and Ricky Seals-Jones. Not to mention possibly the fastest receiver and kick returner in true freshman Speedy Noil.
Texas A&M also has a much improved defense from the previous two seasons. In 2014, they lead the SEC in sacks. With 17 already this season the only flaw in this kind of play is that sometimes the Texas A&M defense can give up the big play.
Mullen has taken notice of this and said he may attempt to take some shots downfield. 
“They are a very aggressive team,” Mullen said. “A lot of times when you’re an aggressive team, you’re going to create some matchups where you get some one-on-one shots. Like anything though, they’re trying to create those.”
With all the talk about how strong Texas A&M’s offense is, the Bulldogs boast a pretty good offense as well. The Bulldogs have had five consecutive games of gaining 500-plus yards or more in total offense, which is a school record. 
Prescott has played phenomenally in the first four games this year, highlighted by an eye-opening performance against LSU in which he accounted for 268 yards passing, while adding 105 yards on the ground. 
However, Prescott said the LSU performance is not in the back of his mind this week. 
“Our mind has already transitioned to Texas A&M,” Prescott said. “We have moved past the LSU game and are getting ready for our second SEC game and the first one at Davis Wade this year.”
On the other side of the ball, the Bulldogs have a stout and stingy defense. The playing style is actually very similar to how Texas A&M’s defense plays, where the Bulldogs like to take risks and get into the backfield to try to create negative plays. The strategy has paid off so far for MSU, as it leads the SEC with 34 tackles for a loss in 2014.
The defense is anchored by the front seven for the Bulldogs. With monster sophomore defensive tackle Chris Jones and linebacker Benardrick McKinney, it has been hard to run the ball against MSU. The defense has only allowed an average of 82.5 rushing yards per game in what has become one of the best run defenses in the country.
Perhaps the most underrated player on MSU’s defense has been sophomore linebacker Beniquez Brown, who has recorded 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack. 
The main focus against LSU was stopping the run, but now with Texas A&M coming to town, the defense has to shift its focus to the passing game. Brown said  the team still needs to prepare for both. 
“They still average a lot of yards on the ground,” Brown said. “But they do like to spread the ball around, so we just have to lock down the perimeter, and if they run the ball, we will hopefully lock that down too.”
Even though the kickoff is set for the early time-slot of 11 a.m., Coach Mullen said he expects Davis Wade to be rocking. 
“That’s the atmosphere we want,” Mullen said. “When people say what’s the hardest place to play in in the country, that’s what we want (Davis Wade Stadium) to be. We’ve got to do our part on the field, but we certainly need everybody in the stands to do their part as well.”
Festivities for SEC Nation will begin at 8 a.m., and the set will be located in front of Dorman Hall. The Show will go live to the nation at 9 a.m., so bring your signs and bring your cowbells.