Mississippi State (2-4, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) will catch No. 19 Auburn (4-2, 3-0 SEC) at the wrong time. The Tigers started the year with back-to-back losses against Southern Cal and Georgia Tech, but now Auburn has won four straight, including two victories over top 10 opponents.
The Auburn Offense:
The Auburn offense stereotypes past successful SEC football teams: a deep core of running backs, a thick, solid line, an efficient quarterback and rarely turn the ball over.
Carnell “Cadillac” Williams leads the Auburn rushing attack. Williams has combined for 335 rushing yards on 71 carries in the Tigers’ past two games. Last year Williams rushed for 106 yards on 28 carries in Auburn’s 42-14 trouncing of State. Williams accounted for 55 percent of Auburn’s total yards in last week’s win against Arkansas.
“They’re going to get the ball into the running backs’ hands,” MSU head coach Jackie Sherrill said. “The running backs they have are outstanding. They break tons of tackles.”
To go along with quick and explosive running backs, Auburn has an offensive line that boasts an average combined weight of 314 pounds.
Those big men protect 6-foot-5-inch 228-pound Jason Campbell. The junior quarterback from Taylorsville, Miss., has thrown for only five touchdowns this season, but has a 60 percent completion rate.
“Jason is a young man who is a talented quarterback,” Sherrill said. “He throws the ball very well.”
Sherrill says that Campbell is dangerous out of the pocket.
“Where he’s really really dangerous is when you make him move,” Sherrill said. “Because he’s got a lot of ability to run and throw it 40 or 50 yards down field.”
The Auburn Defense:
The Tiger defense embodies dominance. The Tigers have one of the best front seven in football and a young but solid secondary.
Nose guard DeMarco McNeil leads the immense line. MSU quarterback Kevin Fant has respect for McNeil and his defensive teammates.
“He’s a huge guy,” Fant said. “He’s able to stop the run and the ends are just so quick. You got really good pass rushers on the end and big guys in the middle with a push.”
The Tiger linebacker core includes pre-season All-American Karlos Dansby and Dontarrious Thomas.
“Dansby is everywhere,” Fant said. “He might be behind the line of scrimmage tackling for losses. Thomas is just a sure middle linebacker. You match that with a pretty good secondary you’ve got a pretty good defensive football team.”
The Tiger secondary allowed 355 passing yards to Tennessee, but kept all other opponents from reaching the 200-yard mark in passing.
In its last 12 games Auburn has allowed only one touchdown in the first quarter and has not allowed a 100-yard rusher in the last 13 games.
Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville emphasized the importance of not overlooking the underdog.
“Each week, they have gotten better,” Tuberville said. “We are going to have to be prepared and ready to play. It’s one of those games in the conference where everyone says you should win, but there are no upsets in this league anymore. Everyone has good players and is well coached. We are going to have to get our team ready to play.”
The Bulldogs will try to get their 23rd win over Auburn. The Tigers lead the series 52-22-2. In Jordan-Hare Stadium they dominate with a 23-5 record against MSU.