By Brant Daughtry
Under New Management
Auburn and Mississippi State are two of the founding members of the Southeastern conference, and as such have a ton of history. The first meeting between the two came back in 1905, making this the second longest running rivalry that Auburn takes part in. The two teams have played 95 times, with Auburn dominating the series with 65 wins.
The Bulldogs are coached by Mike Leach, national treasure and purveyor of the Air Raid offense, who is in his third season. Leach has been relatively successful with Mississippi State, at least as much as one can be in Starkville. He’s sitting at an even 16-16 record, but sits at 5-3 this season, the best record State has had since the Dan Mullen era.
I want to take a second to talk about the offense. Mike Leach and Hal Mumme came up with this thing together, and now have an entire coaching tree developed from it. In fact, Kliff Kingsbury of the Arizona Cardinals runs a version of it in the NFL. The offense isn’t designed to hit big plays every time, which may come to mind when you think of an offense wanting to throw the ball 80% of the time. Leach is perfectly comfortable throwing the ball three times to pick up one first down. The focus is more on spreading the defense out horizontally than vertically. Using the full field to make the defense chase down athletes in space. And State does a great job of spreading the ball around to different athletes to keep the defense guessing. It’s also based on timing. To defend it, you have to find ways to disrupt that timing. Hurry the quarterback, jam guys at the line, mix up your looks. Keep the QB off-balance. Make no mistake though, there are concepts that exist to make big plays happen. Every play is based on the quarterback making a read, and making the right throw. If the defense misplays and the QB reads it right, the top can get taken off in a hurry.
This leads into Will Rogers, the quarterback for the Bulldogs. He’s done a great job in this system, and as a result, now holds the SEC record for completions in a career. The record was held by Aaron Murray, who did it in 52 games. Rogers did it in 28. He makes good reads, and is able to get the ball out quickly and accurately. It’s impressive that, as much as he throws the ball, he only has four interceptions on the year, with 26 touchdowns besides. It’s a gimmick system, but Rogers runs it extremely well. If there is a knock on him, it’s that he isn’t very mobile. He’s taken 13 sacks this season, something Auburn should look to capitalize on.
It’s no secret that the Auburn defense hasn’t been great this year, especially recently. However, most of that damage has come on the ground. In fact, Auburn’s pass defense has climbed into the top 25 nationally. It’s tough to use that as optimism though, since teams have done the right thing and pounded away at Auburn since their weaknesses against the ground game became evident. This week will be a harsh test of that pass defense. State will not adjust their game plan to take advantage of Auburn’s deficiencies. If Auburn’s pass defense is as good as the out-of-context numbers might suggest, the Tigers have a real chance.
Players to Watch For:
Wide Receiver Caleb Ducking, #1- Ducking is a massive presence. Standing at 6’5″, 200 lbs, it’s no surprise Ducking leads Miss. State in touchdowns with seven and catches with 35. He’s a big, physical presence, which is perfect for what this offense needs. If I had to make a prediction, I’d say DJ James follows him for most of the game.
Cornerback Emmanuel Forbes, #13- Forbes has been a premier corner in the SEC since he arrived in 2020. He is tied for the NCAA lead in interceptions this season, already having five. He’s made several All-American and All-SEC teams over his career, and Auburn would be wise to avoid throwing his way if possible.
The big news of the weekend isn’t going to be about Mississippi State. Auburn has fired Bryan Harsin, and it feels as though the entire fan base has taken a breath of fresh air. At the time the trigger was pulled, the Harsin hire made sense. Unfortunately, things fell apart quickly. Auburn did the right thing in moving on, and now Carnell “Cadillac” Williams has been named interim. I have no idea how Auburn will look with Coach Caddy at the helm, but it’ll be hard for this season to go any worse than it has. The next head coach is so important. Auburn is in a down year, but is still a top 10 job in college football. Auburn is going to swing for the fences on this one. And personally, I think they hit it big.
