STARKVILLE — Michael Van Buren continued his strong run of play since taking over as Mississippi State’s starting quarterback, but the Bulldogs’ defensive shortcomings also continued as MSU’s losing streak hit six with a 34-24 defeat to No. 14 Texas A&M on Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium.

The Bulldogs bookended the first half with long touchdown drives, but in between they struggled to finish. MSU did not allow a single sack (that counted) last week at Georgia, but Texas A&M sacked Van Buren on back-to-back plays to kill the Bulldogs’ second possession, and the Aggies’ defense stiffened in the red zone to hold MSU to a field goal the next time the hosts had the ball.

Most damaging was the Bulldogs’ inability to take advantage of a rare defensive stop — safety Hunter Washington made his first career interception on an overthrow from Texas A&M quarterback Conner Weigman. But after two straight runs from Johnnie Daniels lost yardage, MSU kept its offense on the field on fourth-and-6, and Van Buren, under duress, threw an interception to linebacker Scooby Williams.

Williams returned the pick inside the Bulldogs’ 30-yard line, setting up the Aggies to take a two-score lead. Aside from the interception, MSU’s defense provided little resistance for Weigman and his receivers in the first half.

Texas A&M took advantage of a botched fake punt to take a 14-point lead late in the third quarter, but after the Aggies got the ball back, linebacker Zakari Tillman became the second Bulldog to intercept Weigman, giving MSU the ball in the red zone. Van Buren’s third touchdown pass of the day three plays later went to Kevin Coleman to make it a one-score game again.

The Bulldogs managed to get a rare stop after that, but followed it up with a three-and-out, leading to a Texas A&M field goal that brought the lead to 10 with just over six minutes left. MSU’s offensive line started strong but wore down in the second half against the Aggies’ pass rush.

Takeaways

1. This defense just cannot get off the field. The Bulldogs did just fine on first and second down, containing Texas A&M star running back Le’Veon Moss. But on third down, the Aggies did whatever they wanted, converting six of seven in the first half and converting on fourth down the one time they came up short. The first drive of the second half was more of the same — after an offensive pass interference penalty, a pass from Weigman to Tre Watson moved the chains on third-and-23.

2. Van Buren is continuing to show he’s the man for the job. Apart from the second-quarter interception, the freshman avoided major mistakes for most of the game. He took his licks against an outstanding pass rush but hung in there, doing most of his work in the short and midrange passing game. The two-minute drill right before halftime was his best drive of the game, ending with a four-yard touchdown pass to fellow freshman Mario Craver.

Craver would leave the game late in the third quarter with an apparent leg injury and was assisted off the field by trainers, who led him straight to the locker room.

3. MSU is good enough to stay in these games, but not good enough to finish them. There have been encouraging signs in each game during this brutal stretch of three straight contests against top-15 teams. In the end, though, the Bulldogs have not been playing enough complementary football to close things out. The schedule is doing head coach Jeff Lebby and company no favors, but at some point, MSU has to show that it can not just compete, but win against a quality SEC program. The Bulldogs don’t have the personnel on defense to do that right now, making that side of the ball the top priority in the upcoming offseason.