Inside the numbers: Mississippi State-Texas A&M first-half stats
Mississippi State and No. 14 Texas A&M have reached halftime at Davis Wade Stadium and Texas A&M leads 21-17.
Mississippi State jumped on the scoreboard first with an impressive 12-play, 92-yard drive on the opening possession. The Bulldogs converted a pair of fourth-down conversions on the drive, including a 14-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Michael Van Buren to tailback Davon Booth. That gave State a 7-0 lead with 9:36 remaining in the first quarter.
The visiting Aggies also scored on their first offensive series of the game. Texas A&M marched 74 yards as quarterback Conner Weigman capped the drive with a 20-yard scoring toss to Noah Thomas, tying the game at 7-7 with 2:41 left in the opening quarter.
In the second quarter, the Aggies stayed hot on offense and took their first lead. Le’Veon Moss scored from nine yards out to finish off an 81-yard drive and the Aggies led 14-7 with 10:29 remaining in the first half.
The Bulldogs managed to cut the deficit to 14-10 thanks to a 24-yard field goal by Kyle Ferrie with 6:30 remaining in the opening half.
Both teams then exchanged interceptions but it was Texas A&M making the most of a Scooby Williams pass theft. Williams returned the Van Buren interception to the State 28 and after keeping the drive alive with a fourth-down defensive pass interference, Amari Daniels ran for a six-yard touchdown, increasing the Aggies lead to 21-10 with 1:48 left in the half.
However, State wasn’t done as Van Buren took the Bulldogs 75 yards in just 1:27. Van Buren found freshman receiver Mario Craver for a four-yard touchdown pass as State cut the deficit to 21-17 with 21 seconds remaining in the first half.
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In the first half, the Aggies has 180 yards of offense with 121 coming through the air. The Aggies had two penalties for nine yards and were 6 of 7 on third down. Texas A&M held the ball for 12:18 of the opening half.
Mississippi State rolled up 273 yards of offense with 173 coming through the air. The Bulldogs had three penalties for 24 yards and were 2 of 7 on third down along with a 2 of 3 showing on fourth down. The Bulldogs held the ball for 17:42 of the first half.
Individually for the Aggies, Weigman was 7 of 11 for 121 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Barber led all receivers with five catches for 87 yards while Moss had seven rushes for 28 yards and one touchdown.
For the Bulldogs, Van Buren was 12 of 17 passing for 173 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Craver led State receivers with four catches for 39 yards and a touchdown while Davon Booth led the ground game with five rushes for 61 yards along with a receiving touchdown.
