Focus On The Job
September 26, 2022 | Football, Athletics, Joel Coleman
Bulldogs lock in on Texas A&M.
STARKVILLE – When Mississippi State kicks off against No. 17 Texas A&M on Saturday, it'll have been almost exactly a year since the Bulldogs and Aggies last squared off.
You surely remember that day well, right? MSU went to College Station and stunned what was then the country's 15th-ranked team, 26-22. Key in the win was quarterback Will Rogers' big day as he completed 46 of his 59 passes for 408 yards and three touchdowns.
At Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach's weekly press conference on Monday, he was asked about Rogers' showing down in the Lone Star State last year and what allowed the signal caller to lead the way against the Aggies.
"You know, he just kind of focused on his job," Leach said. "I mean, he didn't make too much out of it. He just focused on the next play and his job."
Focus on the job. It's one of those things that's much easier said than done. Yet it's something Rogers and his teammates will look to duplicate this week as they once again stare down the Aggies.
Already this season, Mississippi State has given indication it is an incredibly strong team when its guys lock in and execute. The Bulldogs are tough to stop when they possess the football, sitting seventh in the entire country in passing offense and having already this year notched the three longest runs in Leach's tenure at MSU. They're hard to break through on the other side of the line, ranking in the top half of the Southeastern Conference in total defense. The special teams units have had special moments including big returns, perfectly-placed punts and a field goal just a yard shy of tying the school record for longest made kick.
It's all been a product of the Bulldogs' ability to lock in. That trait might not be any more valuable than it'll be over the course of the next few weeks.
Starting with the Texas A&M game, each of MSU's next four opponents are against ranked foes. After the Aggies comes a home contest against Arkansas and road tilts at Kentucky and Alabama. Even one little peek around the corner at a future game could have devastating consequences in the present.
Fortunately, Leach said he believes his bunch has learned the only matter that's important is the matter at hand.
"We kind of [just] talk about the day's practice and that sort of thing," Leach said. "Our schedule, especially what's coming up, it would be pretty tough to look ahead…[it] would be monumentally stupid to look ahead to anybody."
So, Leach, Rogers and the rest will go about their business focused solely on what's right in front of them. There can be no celebrating last week's dominating win. Nor can there be any glimpses towards the Homecoming game against Arkansas coming up on October 8.
What's done is done. The future will have its moment. This week is all about those Aggies.
"Every game is a separate event and a separate week of preparation and a separate segment of the year and one that needs to be maximized," Leach said. "If you don't maximize it, you're going to get behind, and the more you do maximize it, the better you're going to be as you grow from one week to the next."
