Will benching quarterback Jeremy Johnson help the Auburn Tigers overcome their early season woes and pick up their first conference win against Mississippi State? Or will the Bulldogs travel to Jordan-Hare Stadium and beat the Auburn Tigers for the second straight year?
            In last season’s matchup, Auburn traveled to Davis Wade Stadium in a matchup of two top three ranked teams. It was college game day for Mississippi State and there were a record number of people in attendance for the game. MSU pulled away early in the game, and it was too big of a deficit for the Tigers to overcome.
            That game sent Mississippi State to the number one ranking in the nation for a long stretch of the season until finally being defeated by Alabama, Ole Miss, and later Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl. After all of last season’s departures, it has been said that Mississippi State would not be good this season.
            They have been just less than great. The Bulldogs traveled to a hostile Southern Miss and beat them, lost by a last second missed field goal to the 8th ranked LSU Tigers, and then put a beat down on the Demons of Northwestern State. But traveling to Auburn will be the toughest game yet.
            Last weekend, LSU took out sweet vengeance and Leonard Fournette ran crazy on Auburn’s defense. And after a few weeks of low efficiency from Jeremy Johnson, Gus Malzahn decided to bench the hyped up quarterback who did nothing but let down the fans and prove the critics correct.
            Instead, he is starting redshirt freshman Sean White, who will be seeing his first collegiate snaps against a tough Mississippi State defense. It is not the ideal position for his first game, but he is going to try and make the most of it.
            “I think this will be his first game action,” head coach Dan Mullen said. “That does not affect our game plan and won’t change anything we do.” White is a little different quarterback than Johnson, as White has more accuracy and is a smaller, better runner.
            “He throws the ball well,” left tackle Shon Coleman said. “Every time I see him throw the ball, he’s an accurate passer. He has that ‘it’ factor, like coach Malzahn says. He’s a great leader, so I think he’ll do a great job.”
            Without taking any college snaps, White seems to have a lot of praise and support from his teammates. He will be going up against a strong defense line and a healthy Will Redmond/Taveze Calhoun duo at cornerback.  
            On the MSU offense, Dak Prescott looks to continue on from his season’s success. He looks to have another offensive explosion like last week, where the Bulldogs set the school record for yards gained.
            Mississippi State will have to get a ground game going, with both Ashton Shumpert and Aeris Williams getting reps at running back. The running game has not been strong this season, but with Prescott and the duo of running backs playing better now, it should be a balanced offense. It will also help that Auburn’s best defense lineman, Carl Lawson, is hurt and will not be playing.
            With the threat of De’Runnya Wilson and Fred Ross, the new threat of Gabe Myles and the young stars, the Bulldogs look to put up a fair amount of points against a hurt and vulnerable Auburn defense.
            Auburn opens up this week as a three point favorite, which is very surprising seeing how they have performed so poorly in their previous three games. The game will be Saturday at 6:30 p.m.