After a 41-30 win over West Virginia last weekend, the Tigers (3-0) will play host to a struggling Ball State (0-3) this Saturday in Jordan-Hare Stadium.
The last time Ball State came to Jordan-Hare Stadium it gave up a touchdown on every possession of the game, losing 63-3 in 2005.
Because of this, head coach Gene Chizik and his coaching staff will have a new challenge this week, keeping their team motivated.
Ball State, who went 12-0 last year in the regular season, winning the Mid-American Conference Western Division Title, has seen a complete turnaround since the end of last season since coach Brady Hoke left for San Diego State and quarterback Nate Davis left early for the NFL.
So far this season, the Cardinals have lost to North Texas and Army, two teams that had a combined 4-20 record last season, as well as New Hampshire, a football championship subdivision school.
Auburn and Ball State have met twice previously this decade, with the Tigers winning twice at home, 30-0 in 2001 and 63-3 in 2005.
So far, Auburn has never lost to any current members of the Mid-American Conference, with six previous games against MAC schools, with wins against Akron, Buffalo, Northern Illinois and Western Michigan.
The Tigers worked on alignments and tackling, two of their main problems on defense after last Saturday's game.
The defense's biggest problem last Saturday was missed tackles.
"We would blitz a guy and come off the edge," Chizik said in Sunday's teleconference. "They were very athletic. We'd come off the edge and take poor angles. Just tackling issues was a little bit of a problem. We're still having a bit of a problem right now of getting off the field on third down. We've got to revisit a lot of that and go back and look at some of that."
Although there were missed tackles, the Tigers had four interceptions in the fourth quarter and are now tied for second in the nation with eight interceptions.
After having a dominating running game the first two games, the Tigers went to the air when West Virginia put eight in the box to stop the run.
"Every week we're not going to be able to run the ball," Chizik said. "Again, I've said before, offensively we're going to do what the defense allows us to do."
In last week's game against Army, the Cardinals collected 375 yards, but quarterback Kelly Page had anything but a memorable performance completing 12-of-24 passes for 154 yards and one touchdown.
Page was also intercepted three times, and the last one was returned for the deciding touchdown, as the Black Knights beat the Cardinals 24-17.
Page was benched and Tanner Justice finished the game with 100 yards on 7-of-11 passing.
Page will start the game Saturday although Justice is also listed on the depth chart.
Ball State freshman receiver Seth White broke his collarbone against Army and will miss the rest of the season. Seth White was BSU's leading receiver with seven catches for 85 yards and a touchdown entering the Army game.
"When you look at Auburn, there aren't many weaknesses on that team," said head coach Stan Parrish in a press conference Monday. "We have to be crisp and execute. They have top 10 talent, they're fast and averaging 40 points a game and are a very good football team. Our strategy will be to get the ball in our best play-maker's hands."
The Tigers tackle the Cardinals at 6 p.m. Saturday. The game will be televised by Fox Sports South.
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