By Brant Daughtry
A Way Forward
Mississippi State is in a very unique situation, one that no opposing fan would wish on a team. I want to start this out by saying that Mike Leach was, by all accounts, an absolute treasure as far as coaches go, and an excellent football mind that contributed a lot to the game. He is deeply missed I think, not just by the fans of the teams he coached, but the world of college football as a whole. The world is less fun, and the sport is less creative, now that he’s gone. Fly the flag.
The new head coach at State is the former DC Zach Arnett, who is tasked with keeping the train on the tracks. He’s extremely young by coaching standards, only 37 years old, and has done as well as could be expected with the hand he’s been dealt. State is 5-3 under his leadership, and 4-3 this season. Nothing to write home about, but again the context is everything here.
Their offense is led by Will Rogers, who under Leach looked like one of the best QB’s in the country. Arnett elected to move away from that style of offense though, and Rogers has suffered some because of it. Keep in mind though, that Rogers was hurt last week and replaced by Mike Wright, a Vanderbilt transfer who also didn’t look stellar. At the time of this writing, it’s unknown which will start, but either way, the offense of State is no longer the thing to worry about, averaging only about 27 points a game.
Their defense however, is nasty. They’re giving up an average up just 25 points a game, and held Arkansas, an offense that’s struggling similarly to Auburn’s, to 3 whole points. They won the game 7-3. They’ve had some trouble with high powered offenses, but Auburn’s is anything but, and they have no problem strangling a struggling offense.
Players to Watch For:
Running Back Jo’Quavious Marks, #7- With the starting QB either out or hobbled, you can bet State will be leaning on the running game here. Enter Marks, an impressive senior tailback out of Atlanta who’s averaging about six yards a touch. He’s got over 600 yards on the year, and five touchdowns. State will lean on him for ball control and try to crank out first downs.
Linebacker Nathaniel Watson, #14- This due is the leader of the State defense. Watson is in his 6th year of college football, having taken a redshirt year and using his covid season. He’s been a contributor, but has really come on in his final year as a Bulldog. He’s been used a little differently this year, spending more time as a pass rusher, and it’s really paid off. He had 11 sacks over the past two years, and has 7.5 through seven games this season. He’s also pulled in an interception this year. He’s a really good linebacker, and Zach Arnett loves to move him around to confuse an offense.
Auburn fans have heard a lot from their head coach this season about the lack of talent creating unfavorable matchups and limiting the team, especially on the offensive side. That’s valid for some of what we’ve seen, but as I and some others have said on SportsCall, that does not explain the lack of direction on offense. Auburn does not look like it needs new players, it looks like it needs new direction. Multiple pre-snap penalties and mental errors have plagued the team, operational things that talent has no effect on. Throw in some decision making at imperfect play calling, and the offense looks worse than even the most pessimistic expected.
This team had an extraordinarily difficult run over the last few weeks, and it showed. While LSU and Ole Miss aren’t exactly revered defenses this year, you can make the argument, however hollow, that they have more continuity and better players. Throw in Georgia and Texas A&M, two teams that are recruiting better than anyone else and have legitimately strong defenses, and it makes sense that they made Auburn struggle mightily.
This week, that changes. State is still reeling from a sudden and unexpected coaching change. Zach Arnett is doing well, but is in his first year as a head coach. The offense they produce is not good. And, even with the struggles in recruiting and transfer portal action, Auburn has the more talented roster. Auburn has better players on both sides of the ball, and State has struggled against teams that aren’t likely to fire a coach after this season.
All that to say, Auburn has to change what they’ve been doing offensively. The quarterback rotation has to stop, or at least slow down. Sustaining a drive is hard enough when you don’t have excellent players, but throw in an inability to create any real rhythm and you have a recipe for disaster.
The Hugh Freeze honeymoon is over. The fans have been getting restless, and it reached a fever pitch last week against Ole Miss. If Hugh Freeze can’t produce on the field Saturday, things will get ugly for this fan base. Hugh Freeze won’t be fired at the end of this season, not unless Auburn goes winless from here. But the frustrations of the fans have made one thing clear. Their is still an expectation to play good football around here, and if Freeze wants to stick around, he’ll start showing he can make that happen.
