Mississippi State will get a brief respite from Southeastern Conference play Saturday as the Bulldogs (2-3) host Western Michigan (2-3). The game will kick off at 11 a.m. on SEC Network. Here are five keys to victory for MSU.

Get Will Rogers his confidence back

The Bulldogs’ senior quarterback has sandwiched his best game with MSU around two of his worst and is coming off just the second three-interception showing of his collegiate career. Some fans have been clamoring for Vanderbilt transfer Mike Wright to play more, but so far Wright has been used mostly in short-yardage and goal-line situations for run-pass options.

Western Michigan does have a ball-hawking safety in Michigan State transfer Tate Hallock, who has two interceptions and three pass breakups and is also the Broncos’ leading tackler. But Hallock aside, Rogers should be able to attack Western Michigan’s secondary. He will need to connect on a few deep balls off play action, the way he did against South Carolina, to regain some confidence heading into the bye week.

“Will is very conscious of knowing that we have to protect the football,” offensive coordinator Kevin Barbay said. “You can’t win games like that, turning the football over. We have to continue to stress ball security and put our guys in those situations where they can protect the football and they’ve got nice, clean throws.”

Keep the Broncos out of the backfield

Western Michigan’s defense, on the whole, is not very good, but the Broncos have done a good job getting to the quarterback, as their 15 sacks rank second in the Mid-American Conference. Lineman Mason Nelson and linebackers Donald Willis and Boone Bonnema are responsible for a combined 8.5 of those sacks. Like MSU, Western Michigan typically uses a three-man front and generates pressure from the second level.

It will fall on the Bulldogs’ offensive line, an experienced unit that has struggled somewhat in pass protection under a new scheme, to keep their quarterback upright.

“We’d like to be able to do both (run blocking and pass protection) in one game,” offensive line coach Will Friend said. “This year, we haven’t been able to put it together in one football game. When you’re multiple, you have to be able to do more than one thing, so we must improve that part.”

Limit Jalen Buckley’s production

The redshirt freshman running back has been the star of the Broncos’ offense and is nearly impossible to bring down for a loss. Buckley has rushed for 557 yards through five games and is averaging just under six yards per carry. MSU’s defensive line, which has been snakebitten by injuries in recent weeks, could have trouble slowing him down.

The Bulldogs’ game plan against Buckley may depend on how aggressive defensive coordinator Matt Brock wants to be with his linebackers. J.P. Purvis and John Lewis have seen more playing time lately to help make up for some of those injuries, and if they are able to win their matchups against Western Michigan’s offensive line, Jett Johnson and Nathaniel “Bookie” Watson can roam free and rack up tackles.

Make Treyson Bourguet uncomfortable

The Broncos’ starting quarterback, also a redshirt freshman, did not begin the season in that role but has gradually won the job over Jack Salopek. Bourguet had his best game last week against Ball State, completing 24 of 39 passes for 328 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.

With MSU’s injuries along the defensive line, getting pressure on Bourguet could be a challenge. The Bulldogs’ secondary will also have its most favorable matchups since the Southeastern Louisiana game. A lot has been made of the rate at which opposing quarterbacks in the SEC have completed passes against MSU — the starters for LSU, South Carolina and Alabama were a combined 58-of-66 for 813 yards.

“There’s different breakdowns. Sometimes it’s a guy not making a play on a ball, sometimes it’s a schematic breakdown, sometimes it’s pass rushers not getting there,” Brock said. “It’s all three levels to me, as well as coaching. We have to look at how we’re getting attacked (and) how we can adjust the coverages we play to better suit what people are doing to us.”

Don’t come out sluggish

The Bulldogs’ first 11 a.m. game of the season quickly turned disastrous — Rogers looked out of sync with his receivers and MSU’s defense had no answers for LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels and receiver Malik Nabers. Granted, the Tigers are loaded with talent on both sides of the ball, but the Bulldogs looked like they’d forgotten to set their alarms for much of that day.

The longer MSU lets Western Michigan hang around, the more the Broncos’ confidence will grow. Getting off to a fast start — which the Bulldogs have really only done once this year, against Arizona — will be paramount Saturday.