STARKVILLE — De’Monte Russell extended his left arm and held up his white-gloved hand.
Whether the Mississippi State defensive end was pointing out the route to the end zone to cornerback Decamerion Richardson or simply celebrating the Bulldogs’ biggest play of Saturday’s game, it hardly seemed to matter.
The path to victory was clear, and Russell was pointing right at it.
Richardson returned a blocked field goal 50 yards for a key touchdown in the third quarter, the signature moment in another big win over a ranked team for Mississippi State.
The Bulldogs got out to a two-score lead early and held off No. 17 Texas A&M 42-24 at Davis Wade Stadium, coming out on top in their first home Southeastern Conference game of the season.
“We definitely took a step tonight in the right direction,” quarterback Will Rogers said.
Mississippi State never trailed and never led by fewer than 10 points in the second half.
Rogers tossed three touchdown passes, going 31 of 45 passing for 329 yards without an interception, and the Bulldogs scored twice on defense and special teams.
Emmanuel Forbes blocked a 44-yard field goal by Texas A&M’s Randy Bond that Richardson scooped and took to the house and delivered a pick-six off a juggling grab along the sideline late in the fourth quarter.
Coach Mike Leach said he’d seen Forbes nearly block kicks in practice but that the junior corner had never quite succeeded.
“We’ve seen him come close on a lot of them,” Leach said. “We just haven’t seen him get them.”
Forbes intercepted two passes in the fourth quarter alone, picking off backup quarterback Haynes King twice.
A&M’s Max Johnson was 18 of 25 for 201 yards and one touchdown while facing heavy pressure from a relentless Mississippi State pass rush all day.
The Bulldogs managed four sacks, including a team-high 1 1/2 from reserve linebacker J.P. Purvis, in a strong defensive showing.
Purvis replaced Nathaniel Watson, who was ejected for targeting early in the second half for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Johnson. But even with one of its top defenders out, Mississippi State didn’t miss a beat.
The Bulldogs forced the Aggies to settle for two straight field goals, and Forbes came around the edge to block the second. Richardson scooped up the ball at midfield, bumped into Russell and kept on going for a score that sent Davis Wade Stadium into euphoria.
“It reminded me of my old days at running back,” Richardson said.
Dillon Johnson delivered a key score on fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line to answer back after a Texas A&M touchdown, but the Aggies scored again to cut the deficit back to 11 points.
Immediately, Rogers hit Rara Thomas deep down the left sideline for a 75-yard touchdown catch and run.
Forbes all but sealed the game with his 33-yard pick-six with 3:29 to play. He tied the SEC record with four interceptions returned for touchdowns.
“When my time came, I just took advantage of it and found the end zone,” he said.
MSU shut out Texas A&M in the first half, taking a 14-0 lead into the break.
Poor offensive play on both sides characterized a first quarter with more punts than points as both teams remained scoreless well into the second period.
But Rogers rebounded from an overthrown fade to Caleb Ducking to hit Ducking for a 5-yard score with 6:10 to play in the half.
Rufus Harvey stretched the football over the goal line on a 4-yard pass from Rogers with 58 seconds to go before the break.
The Bulldogs could have cruised from there, but it wasn’t quite so easy.
Watson’s targeting foul set up Texas A&M for a chip-shot field goal, and a Ducking fumble gave the Aggies the ball again in Mississippi State territory.
But A&M’s drive stalled, leading to the blocked field goal that put MSU up 21-3.
“It was a real big momentum change,” Forbes said. “On offense, we had the turnover, and defense had to pick them up. We did.”
Johnson answered for the Aggies with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Moose Muhammad III, and King later ran for a 4-yard score on fourth-and-goal.
Every time, though, Mississippi State had an answer.
The Bulldogs will hope to parlay the momentum from the victory into another home win next week. MSU welcomes No. 20 Arkansas (3-2, 0-2 SEC) to Starkville at 11 a.m. Saturday with a chance to improve to 5-1 ahead of a trip to Kentucky on Oct. 15.
“We’re just looking to get better each and every week and go 1-0 each and every week,” Forbes said.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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