Mississippi State Football Film Preview: the Auburn Tigers
Mississippi State football travels to the Plains looking for its second SEC win of the season. What should we expect out of Auburn, and how should the Bulldogs attack them?
Mississippi State football plays yet another pivotal game this weekend. After getting a much-needed win, that was likely a must-win, at Arkansas, MSU meets another beatable opponent in the Auburn Tigers. And of the Bulldogs’ remaining games, Auburn is probably the team they are most likely to beat outside of Southern Miss.
The Tigers are struggling in their first year under Hugh Freeze. After a 3-0 start through their non-conference slate, Auburn has lost four-straight games. There’s been moments of competitiveness in those losses. They were tied in the fourth quarter against top-ranked Georgia in a 27-20 loss. They fell by a touchdown against a top-15 Ole Miss team as well.
But they were handled by both Texas A&M and LSU, and they were probably lucky for have both the Georgia and Ole Miss games to have been as close as they were. Even their Week 2 win over Cal easily could’ve been a loss. The Tigers just aren’t that good of a team right now. Which to be fair, neither is Mississippi State. But if the Bulldogs are going to close out the season as they’d like to, they really need to find a way to get a win.
Most of Auburn’s struggles fall on the offensive side of the ball, which is not a good look when your HC is regarded as one of the better offensive minds in the sport. The Tigers are averaging 26.7 PPG, but that average is greatly inflated by blowout wins over UMass and FCS Samford. They’re at just 16.6 PPG against Power 5 opponents.
Their defense has gotten some respect for seemingly keeping them competitive, but many of the advanced stats tell a different story. On a down by down basis, opposing offenses have had little problem moving the ball against Auburn. Turnovers have been the lone thing propping up their defensive success, which while important, is rarely sustainable over the course of a season.
Let’s take a close look at the Tigers…