No. 6 Texas A&M will be rolling into Starkvegas

Viva Starkvegas!

Rarely have there been football games played in Starkville, Miss. — affectionately dubbed Starkvegas by residents and visitors alike — as big as No. 6 Texas A&M vs. No. 12 Mississippi State.

It’s the opening game of a huge doubleheader in the Magnolia State on sort’em out Saturday in the SEC West. But don’t dare call Aggies-Bulldogs the undercard.

While ESPN College GameDay will be about 90 miles up the road in Oxford for No. 3 Alabama against No. 11 Ole Miss, the SEC Network will set up shop with its pregame show in Starkville. If Tim Tebow’s in town, it must be huge.

“Everyone around the country gets to see what Starkville, Miss., is all about,” Bulldogs coach Dan Mullen said. And maybe hear a cowbell or two. Noisemakers are banned in stadiums by the Southeastern Conference, but don’t be surprised if a few Bulldogs fans sneak their beloved clangers through security.

The first of six games matching ranked teams around the country, three in the Southeastern Conference’s daunting western division, features two offenses that have been humming.

The Aggies (5-0, 2-0 SEC) rank in the top of five nationally in scoring, passing and total offense. First-year starting quarterback Kenny Hill of Southlake is putting up passing numbers reminiscent of Johnny Manziel with 1,881 yards and 17 TD passes.

“You’re going to have to manage the game and manage the tempo of the game,” Mullen said. “You know you’re going to have to score. They’re averaging 51 points per game. If they hit their average, it means we have to score 52. If you hold them just below the average, we’ll have to score 50.”

It’ll be interesting to see if Mississippi State (4-0, 1-0) tries to slow it down against Texas A&M, which prefers fast ball. The Bulldogs can get up and go, too, and offense hasn’t been a problem. Mississippi State has topped 500 total yards in each of its games and has a quarterback who draws comparisons to Tebow, the Heisman Trophy winner-turned-TV analyst who Mullen coached at Florida as offensive coordinator.

Dak Prescott has three straight games of at least 200 yards passing and 100 rushing for the Bulldogs.

The last time two top-15 teams played at Davis Wade Stadium was 1986. That didn’t work out for Mississippi State. The Bulldogs lost 35-6 to Auburn and didn’t win another game that season.

This story was originally published October 3, 2014 at 6:58 PM.