Taylor Rayburn, sports editor at The Reflector, answered a few questions from The Auburn Plainsman ahead of Auburn’s matchup with Mississippi State this Saturday.
1. Nick Fitzgerald has made lots of headlines in the preseason and following the Bulldogs' win over LSU. Could you give us a scouting report on Fitzgerald and the rest of the Mississippi State offense?
The easiest comparison for Auburn fans is that Nick Fitzgerald is similar to Tim Tebow, in regards to the type of player he is, not in skill. Tebow is an all-time great and I am not saying Fitzgerald is on that level, but they have a similar skill set. The main difference between Fitzgerald and Tebow is that Fitzgerald is much faster in the open field and is a very good downhill runner. While not very quick, Fitzgerald has long strides and once he picks up speed, can out run a surprising amount of defensive backs. The goal to stopping his running game is not letting him pick up any momentum.
While Fitzgerald can run the ball well, he struggles to throw the football. Georgia was able to stop Fitzgerald and the MSU run game, forcing MSU into third and longs. Fitzgerald has great accuracy under seven yards, but sees a massive drop off past that. MSU’s offense has a fantastic one-two punch in the run game between Aeris Williams and Fitzgerald, but struggles in the passing game. MSU’s receivers are, for the most part, shorter than six feet, and this, coupled with Fitzgerald’s struggle with downfield passing game, makes it hard for MSU to stretch the field vertically. Expect a heavy dosage of runs with just enough play action passes to keep the defense honest.
2. Mississippi State looked like two different teams at home at Davis-Wade Stadium and on the road in Athens at Sanford Stadium. Have the Bulldogs addressed this, and what will they do to bring that home energy to Jordan Hare Stadium this weekend?
I do not think their goal is to necessarily bring that energy to Jordan Hare because there is not a way to bring the energy you have at home on the road. What MSU will do is take the sting from Saturday’s loss, which is still there, and use it to bring energy to the field. The biggest thing for MSU to do is to not start slow.
MSU got down early on the road at Louisiana Tech and at Georgia. Against LA Tech, they were able to take the game back to blow out LA Tech. The opposite happened against Georgia, MSU got down 14-0 early and never recovered. They need to score early and kill the energy in the building before Auburn can pick up momentum.
3. Can you give a scouting report on the Bulldogs' defense and the playmakers on that side of the ball?
For MSU’s defense it all starts and ends up front with Jeffrey Simmons. Simmons has arguably been the best defensive lineman in the conference as the nose guard of Todd Grantham’s aggressive 3-4 defense. He is tough to block in one-on-one match-ups, requiring double and sometimes triple teams. He was not as dominant against Georgia, but on Monday after practice he said the issue was more so technique on his end than what they were doing.
He opens up space for edge rushers Gerri Green and Montez Sweat to get one-on-ones. MSU’s success on defense will come down to Green, Sweat and the other edge rushers winning those matchups with the Auburn tackles.
The weakest link for MSU’s defense is pass coverage. The secondary is great in run support but sometimes becomes too aggressive and can get burnt over the top. Safety Mark McLaurin and Jonathan Abram fly around the field making tackles and breaking up passes, but struggle to maintain discipline and get caught looking into the backfield. Overall the way to beat this defense is to take advantage of MSU through the air. The MSU defense is far better than last season’s, but still has room to grow.
4. What are the keys for Mississippi State Saturday night to pull off the upset at Auburn?
As mentioned above, get on the board early and drain the energy from the stadium. They also have to get running back Aeris Williams going. Williams is a workhorse back, who needs a lot of carries. When he is going, MSU’s offense is close to unstoppable. He takes pressure off of Fitzgerald and gives opposing defenses something else to worry about when MSU runs the read option.
MSU also has to get back to using their tight ends in the passing game. Against LSU, Fitzgerald was able to find MSU’s big-bodied tight ends over the middle of the field to get into a rhythm. Against Georgia, tight ends Jordan Thomas and Farrod Green were nowhere to be seen. They have to be involved for MSU to win.
On defense, MSU has to get pressure up front. If Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham has time to throw, he will pick apart the MSU defense. Simmons and crew have to create pressure and force Stidham into bad throws.
5. Score prediction?
MSU is yet to play a close game this season, but I think that changes after Saturday as Auburn pulls out the win 24-21.
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