Mississippi State made a statement this afternoon as they took down #17 Texas A&M 42-24.

The dominant performance was one the Bulldogs needed in its SEC home opener as they have a tough stretch of games coming up against Arkansas and Kentucky.

1) Bent but didn't break

Texas A&M had ample opportunity to put up some points in the first half, but the Mississippi State defense was at its best in the red zone. A&M had a chance to go up 7-0 early in the 2nd quarter, but Collin Duncan punched the ball out of Aggie running back Devon Achane's hands at the 5-yard line.

Another Aggie red zone trip ended in a fumble as Bulldog middle linebacker Bookie Watson broke through on a blitz and forced the ball out of Max Johnson's hand on a sack. Zach Arnett was aggressive all afternoon, sending tons of blitzes when A&M was in plus territory, and it resulted in 4 sacks from the Mississippi State defense, including 1.5 from linebacker J.P. Purvis who saw increased action in the absence of Deshawn Page.

2) Elite Emmanuel

If there was one player who took over the game today, it was junior cornerback Emmanuel Forbes. The Preseason All-SEC honoree showed why he deserved that high praise in the third quarter as he burst off the edge to block a Texas A&M field goal, resulting in a 50-yard touchdown return by Decamerion Richardson.

That wasn't it for the Grenada native as he picked off two of Haynes King's passes in the fourth quarter, one of which he returned for a touchdown. It was the fourth career pick-six in Forbes' 3-year career, which set a Mississippi State record. There aren't many defensive backs in the country that makes as many plays as Forbes has the past three seasons.

3) Offensive Line Impresses

Despite being without starting left tackle Kwatrivous Johnson, Mississippi State's offensive line might have had their best performance of the season. The versatility of Nick Jones to move out to left tackle has been a big one for the Bulldogs after Johnson went down last week, and Middle Tennessee State transfer Steven Losoya did a nice job filling in at left guard.

The Bulldog front kept Will Rogers upright all game, holding the Aggie defense to zero sacks. The protection from the line helped Will Rogers put together another strong performance with 329 yards and three touchdowns. Where they were most impressive was in the run game as they created holes for the Bulldog running backs to combine for a season-high 144 rushing yards on six yards per carry.