What Mississippi State's Big Win Over Texas A&M Means for the Air Raid Offense

The success of Mike Leach's Air Raid offense played a huge role in Mississippi State's 26-22 victory over Texas A&M.

After the Bulldogs struggled in the opening game of the season against Louisiana Tech and dropped close games to Memphis and LSU, several fans voiced their criticism of Leach's scheme -- with the thought the Air Raid couldn't work in the SEC being one of the most popular comments.

On Saturday, Leach and quarterback Will Rogers silenced those critics with an outstanding offensive performance that showed that the Air Raid could be successful -- as it has been time and time again at programs across the nation.

Rogers finished the game with 408 passing yards, averaging 102 yards per quarter. He posted 78% completion percentage, which is high for any quarterback, but becomes even more impressive when it's taken into account the level of competition that Mississippi State was up against at Kyle Field. This Aggies team was a playoff contender less than two weeks ago.

Rogers completed passes to nine different receivers, which were rotated in and out as the game progressed, which clearly factored into overwhelming an opposing defense that couldn't come up with an answer. For the better part of the game, it looked like MSU was scoring at will.

Most passes were not long shots downfield, but the short passes were thrown in ideal locations that allowed the receivers to run and accumulate more yardage. Mississippi State averaged 5.8 yards per play -- slightly more than Texas A&M's 5.7 yards per play -- simply because of good play calling by Leach and equally solid decision-making by Rogers.

Saturday's game was Leach's biggest victory so far as a Bulldog this season, and the win itself spoke volumes about just how dangerous this Air Raid offense can be when executed well and showed that Rogers is a legitimate SEC quarterback who can operate the way the system (and the big dogs) call for.

As the team heads into an open date before facing Alabama, it looks as though this team has finally had its true breakthrough.