This is the week that most of the nation will be watching a key matchup featuring an SEC team. The question is which matchup will it be?
It could be the Alabama-Texas A&M game from College Station. It could possibly be the Ole Miss-Texas game in Austin. For that matter it could even be the Tennessee-Oregon game in Eugene. For the people in the state of Kentucky, the Louisville-Kentucky game in Lexington is the biggest game. There is no doubt that the SEC steps up in non-conference foes this week.
But don’t forget that there will be a couple of conference games that will be played on Saturday. Vanderbilt will be at South Carolina, where the Gamecocks will be trying to bounce back from the loss to Georgia. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt will be shooting for its first win over a ranked opponent since 2008.
But perhaps one of the most interesting games of the week will take place in Jordan-Hare Stadium when Auburn hosts Mississippi State in the conference opener for both teams.
It is an important game for Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen. State rolled big as expected last week against Alcorn State, but that didn’t make up for laying an egg in the opening loss to Oklahoma State. Now it is time to see if the Bulldogs will be competitive against a rugged SEC schedule.
“We’re excited to get into SEC play,” said Mullen. “Not that the non-conference games aren’t huge, these are the big games though. You get eight conference games a year and that to me is what you’re judged on at the end of the year, how you finish within your conference. So this is going to be a big deal for us, getting into this game.”
By the same token it is huge for Auburn coach Gus Malzahn as he gets his SEC head coaching tenure underway. He’s gotten off to a nice start with non-conference wins over Washington State and Arkansas State, which was good for a team that was 3-9 last year, but now the Tigers are going to be looking for their first SEC win since 2011.
“We have faced some adversity in both of these first games, and I like the way we handled it,” said Malzahn. “But, now you are getting into your league, and we are playing against some of the best teams in America, and we’ll face more adversity. We’ll get a chance to see how we respond moving forward.”
Malzahn believes the players have stepped up their mental approach to this game as opposed to facing non-conference opponents.
“I think so, the older players especially,” Malzahn added. “Now the young players — they are still trying to figure out what’s going on,” he said. “I would like to think our intensity and our attention to detail especially on Sunday were better because it’s a different season now, and the older guys understand that.”
Both teams are still trying to establish their identity, especially on offense. Mississippi State couldn’t cross the goal line against Oklahoma State but then hung 56 on Alcorn State.
It is still unlcear if quarterback Tyler Russell will play due to his concussion symptoms suffered against Oklahoma State and get the start, or if backup Dak Prescott will get the call. Mullen isn’t worried about who starts.
“We’re always very concerned with player safety. So to me it’s all gonna be safety-related. I think with him, in talking to him and where our trainers are. I think he’ll be ready to play the game if he’s cleared for contact come the end of the week,” said Mullen.
“I’m very confident with Dak, and our team is very confident with Dak. I think a lot of that is just the leadership role that he has. One thing I always try to do, you don’t prepare a starting quarterback and a backup quarterback; you prepare starting quarterbacks.”
Malzahn knows what to expect from State regardless of who starts at quarterback, but he’s looking for Russell to be on the field.
“Offensively, they have their quarterback back. He is a big guy who can throw the ball,” said Malzahn. “They have the majority of their offensive line back. They are very good at what they do schematically on offense. Defensively, it looks like the same Mississippi State teams that we have played the last three or four years. They’re long, fast and they are physical. They play sound football, and they make you earn it. We have our work cut out for us. It should be a good one.”
Auburn doesn’t have questions about who is the starting quarterback. Malzahn cast his lot with Nick Marshall, the 6-foot-1, 210-pound junior from Pineview, Ga., in fall practice. In his first two games as starter, Marshall has garnered mixed reviews. He is 20-of-36 passing for 246 yards and two touchdowns and has run for 80 yards on 17 carries.
“He improved from Week One to Week Two, and we expected him to. He executed that deep ball extremely well. He was more comfortable. He did make some mistakes, but at the same time, there were mistakes around him that made his mistakes look a little worse than they probably were,” said Malzahn.
“We have to get better as a whole offense to help him as he grows in this offense also.”