The Auburn Tigers (5-4) travel to Starkville to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs (2-6) in a game that could be crucial to the future of head coach Gus Malzahn and the program. Here are the three keys to an Auburn win.
By Steve Wright
Wear Mississippi State down
The 2-6 Bulldogs could easily be in a much better position on the season than they are. The SEC suggests teams have 53 scholarship players minimum available on game day, but because of Covid and other issues the Bulldogs have played with less than 50 players each of the past two weeks. Those games have resulted in one-score losses at the hands of Ole Miss and Georgia. With more players – and his better players – available, then maybe Mike Leach could have won at least one of those games. Auburn needs to keep the pressure on and wear down this thinned out roster with physical football. That will open up the game – and hopefully the floodgates for scoring – in the second half.
Win on third downv
One of the areas where the Auburn offense has a huge advantage is on third down. The Tigers convert at a very respectable 49.6% rate, while the Bulldogs are second-worst in the league on third downs, converting just 33.3% of the time. Much of this is because the Mississippi State offense just isn’t working with any efficiency due to the number of players that Leach has lost to opt-outs as he tries to build the team to his liking. They can’t run for short-yardage and that is a trend that the Tigers will do well to keep continuing on Saturday.
Beware Will Rogers
The freshman QB took over from KJ Costello after the Stanford transfer fell apart and threw seven interceptions in two games. In his last five starts, Rogers has increased his yardage total each time, starting with just 120 in his first start against Texas A&M and ballooning to 440 yards last time out against Ole Miss. The three touchdowns he threw in that game also doubled his total on the season and there is every reason for the Tigers to be wary of this one turning into a shootout.
Saturday‘s game kicks off at 6:30 PM CT (7:30 PM ET). You can watch this Auburn football game on the SEC Network.
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