The Mississippi State Bulldogs will attempt to start out 1-0 in the SEC for the first time since 1999 tomorrow as they face the Auburn Tigers at 6 p.m. at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field on ESPN2.
The Bulldogs are 23-56-2 alltime against the Tigers. Last year they won a thrilling 19-14 upset victory in Auburn thanks largely to an outstanding performance from the defense, which forced five turnovers.
Sophomore quarterback Wesley Carroll had barely played last year before the Auburn game, when an injury to Michael Henig thrust Carroll into the action. Although he only completed three passes for 10 yards that day, he made no major mistakes and led the team down the field late in the fourth quarter for the game-winning touchdown.
“I feel a little more prepared now than I was last year, and we should be better in all phases of the game this year,” Carroll said. “I think we’ve been more efficient in the pass and run games, so it should be a more efficient offensive game this go-around than last year.”
Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville had praise for the Bulldog running backs, especially juniors Anthony Dixon and Christian Ducré.
“Everybody likes to have two good ones, and they have that,” Tuberville said. “They’ve got physical guys. They’ve got speed guys. They can make a difference that can give you a change of pace. It all goes with running the football. Dixon’s been there, done that. He knows how to play, run the football. He’s very durable. It all starts with him,” Tuberville said.
MSU head coach Sylvester Croom said freshman tight end Marcus Green, who had a 50-yard reception in the first quarter against Southeastern Louisiana, will probably not play Saturday due to a pelvis injury. Freshman Nelson Hurst will likely draw the start in his place.
Sophomore Derek Sherrod is expected to be back in the starting lineup Saturday after missing two weeks of practice with a foot infection. He did play a little last Saturday.
The significance of this game, especially considering last year’s result, is not lost on Tuberville.
“If you’re going to get to Atlanta, you’ve got to start out well, he said.” “Last year, we didn’t do it. We didn’t play very well. Mississippi State beat us.”
Auburn is now running a spread offense under new offensive coordinator Tony Franklin. Last season, when Franklin was offensive coordinator at Troy, the Trojans averaged 464.7 yards of offensive per game, 16th best in Division I Bowl Subdivision and 30.4 points per game.
Starting as quarterback for the Tigers is junior Chris Todd, a transfer from Hutchinson Community College in Kansas. Todd has completed 30 of 49 passes for 318 yards and a touchdown this season.
Todd won the starting job ahead of sophomore Kodi Burns, a more run-oriented quarterback who rushed for 87 yards and a touchdown against MSU last year. Tuberville said although Todd is the starter and will get most of the snaps, there may be “special situations” where Burns will play.
Anchoring Auburn’s running game is junior running back Ben Tate. He is currently second in the SEC in rushing yards, with 186 and a touchdown after two games. He forms a one-two punch with senior Brad Lester, who has rushed for 97 yards and a touchdown this season.
On defense, Auburn features junior defense end Antonio Coleman, who has three tackles for loss and two sacks this season to go along with his 17 and seven last year, and junior cornerback Jerraud Powers leads the Tigers in tackles and intercepted a pass against Southern Miss.
On special teams, the Bulldogs will have to watch out for senior Robert Dunn, who has returned seven punts for an average of 24.4 yards, which is first in the SEC. Croom said the Bulldogs will always punt away from him, so he will not have a chance to make a return.
“Auburn is a good football team like they usually are: very talented, very tough, very fast, very well-coached in all three segments of the game,” Croom said. “It’ll be a great challenge for us, but it’s also a great
opportunity.”
“It’s going to be a tough game. We’d love to start 1-0 in the conference and go on from there,” Carroll said.
Auburn is currently 2-0 with wins over Louisiana-Monroe and Southern Miss. They finished 9-4 (5-3 SEC) last year with a win over Clemson in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.