STARKVILLE, Miss. – A promising start to the season did not survive the start of SEC play, and Mississippi State is in danger of being out of the race in the SEC West less than halfway through the season. The Bulldogs will try to avoid a three-game slide and earn a signature win when they host No. 9 Auburn on Saturday.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2. LINE: Auburn -3.5
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Mississippi State hit the ground running under first-year coach Joe Moorhead, winning the first three games by a combined 150-26 while stunning on offense, but the Bulldogs failed to find double figures on the scoreboard in losses to Kentucky and Florida in the last two contests. "From an accountability standpoint, the first thumb goes at me," Moorhead told reporters. "I oversee the game plan, and I call the plays, so that one's on me, and that's one that's going to get fixed. From an overall team standpoint, I thought we lacked the precision and consistency necessary to win a game of that level against that caliber of an opponent." The Bulldogs' struggling offense will go up against an Auburn team that comes into the week tied for third in the FBS in scoring defense at an average of 12.6 points allowed but won't be satisfied until it reaches No. 1. "We have to get better. Every week, our goal is to improve," defensive lineman Derrick Brown told reporters. "We're not happy unless we get a shutout, and we haven't done that yet. So that's what we need to do."
ABOUT AUBURN (4-1, 1-1 SEC)
The Tigers face a particularly brutal conference schedule while going on the road to No. 2 Georgia and No. 1 Alabama toward the end of the regular season and know they need to improve on the offensive side of the ball before those showdowns. "You have to get better every week, and that's what we continue to do every single week," quarterback Jarrett Stidham told reporters. "I have full confidence in our team that we are going to continue to push ourselves every week and get better." Stidham is including himself in that mix after he completed 19-of-33 passes in a 24-13 win over Southern Miss last week - the third time in five games that he failed to complete at least 60 percent of his passes.
ABOUT MISSISSIPPI STATE (3-2, 0-2)
The Bulldogs' issues on offense the last two games start with dual-threat senior quarterback Nick Fitzgerald, who completed a combined 27-of-58 passes without a touchdown and was held to 52 yards on 36 carries against Kentucky and Florida. "When the quarterback has the choice to hand the ball off or run it, a lot of reads we've been given dictated that the quarterback keep it," Moorhead told reporters. "Also, you're always evaluating your personnel and attempting to maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. Nick is a very capable and accomplished runner. Some of the times, we want the ball in his hands, but ... we are examining more and more ways to make sure that when we call a run it gets put in the running back's stomach." Leading rusher Kylin Hill is averaging 7.7 yards per carry but has totaled just 13 carries in the last two games.
EXTRA POINTS
1. The Auburn defense has held three of its last four opponents under 300 total yards.
2. Fitzgerald needs 144 yards to break Tim Tebow's SEC record (2,947) for rushing yards by a QB.
3. The Tigers have taken the last two meetings, including a 49-10 home victory last season.
PREDICTION: Auburn 24, Mississippi State 17