The Auburn football team travels to Mississippi State for its first conference game tonight, just five days after the win over Arkansas State.
Auburn leads the series against the Bulldogs 58-23-2, with a 11-4-1 advantage when playing in Starkville, Miss.
Head coach Gene Chizik said both teams are in offensive transitions and both focus on more rushing yards.
"Their run game is extremely challenging because they have a lot more of the option feel in their game," Chizik said. "It's very challenging, and on top of that, it seems now they're throwing the ball much better than they did last year."
In Saturday's game against Memphis, Mississippi State rushed for just 197 yards, but passed for 372.
Defensively, the Bulldogs held Memphis to 41 rushing yards, nine first downs and 237 yards of total offense.
Head coach Dan Mullen said his team was excited to begin SEC play.
"We have a tough opponent in Auburn, who had a great win last week," Mullen said. "We'll have our challenges because they have a solid offense and an explosive defense, but I am looking forward to the challenge of playing this game."
Davis Wade Stadium is notorious for fans ringing cowbells in celebration and to throw off opposing teams.
With stadium capacity for 55,082 fans, noise could be distracting, especially to younger players.
This season, new rules have been put in place to limit bell ringing to times when the ball isn't live and when Mississippi State scores.
Chizik said his team will be ready for any level of noise tonight.
"Every stadium in the SEC has tradition and passion for the game," Chizik said. "You're going to get the noise, and whatever happens on Thursday night, we'll be prepared for."
Junior quarterback Cam Newton has played in situations where he couldn't hear inside a stadium, but hopes the cowbells remain at home.
"That's something our coaching staff is going to have a fun time trying to scheme up with that," Newton said. "We're just going to go out there and do what we signed up to do, play football."
In week one, both teams had similar numbers in total offensive plays and first downs.
Chizik said his defense has to improve significantly to compete against Mississippi State.
"They do a lot of things that challenge you in terms of a lot of motions and tight end trades and a lot of movement that try to get you out of being in the right spot obviously," Chizik said. "They do what they do, and they are really good at it. They don't need to change anything."
Mullen was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Florida while Newton was playing.
After his move to Starkville, Mullen heavily recruited Newton until the decision was made to attend Auburn.
""I am never confident on a recruit till that piece of paper comes through on a fax machine, but yes, I recruited Cam and recruited him when I was at Florida and he was in high school in Florida," Mullen said. "It appears he decided to go closer to home."
One thing both coaches can agree on is the short week interfering with preparation.
"Your schedule is set, so it is tricky to balance the practice time and rest time," Mullen said. "Normally, Sunday is a recovery day and Tuesday is your most physical day of practice. Now, you look at Tuesday, and it is like a Thursday for you."
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