By Nick Van Der Linden / ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR
|
September 10
The Auburn Tigers (1-0) will try and go 16-1 in the last 17 years in its SEC openers as they prepare to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs (1-0) Saturday night in Jordan-Hare Stadium at 6 p.m.Auburn opened its season with a win last Saturday, defeating the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 37-13 and gave Head Coach Gene Chizik his 16th consecutive win at Auburn since he left in 2004.Auburn spread the wealth offensively, racking up 556 total yards which was the most since the 2005 Kentucky game.Senior quarterback Chris Todd had a solid game, completing 17 of 26 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns and no interceptions.Todd's total passing yards were a career high, surpassing his previous high of 250 yards.The first passing touchdown was 93 yards to Terrell Zachery, the school's longest play from scrimmage."We felt like the corners were getting a little bit aggressive, and we just felt like the double move would have a chance to hit and Chris made a great throw to Terrell," Chizik said at a press conference Saturday.The player who helped get there was Onterio McCalebb, who leads the SEC in all-purpose yards (197) and became the first Auburn freshman to rush for 100 yards in a season opener since Bo Jackson in 1982.Former quarterback Kodi Burns played a key role in Malzahn's Wildcat offense and scored on a one-yard run to give Auburn the lead over Louisiana Tech with 1:33 left in the first quarter.Chizik said it was great to see Kodi score and they were going to use him to help the team win."It's a great feeling when you see a person as selfless as Kodi do well," Chizik said at Saturday night's press conference.Senior defensive end Antonio Coleman now has 15.5 career sacks after getting one last Saturday, which ranks tied for 10th in Auburn history for career sacks.The Bulldogs will be led by first year Head Coach Dan Mullen after being the offensive coordinator at the University of Florida where he led the best offense in the Southeastern Conference.Saturday's meeting between the two schools will mark the 55th consecutive year the two schools have played each other Auburn has won 20 of the last 27.In the most recent years, it is the defenses that have taken control of the game, like last year in Auburn's 3-2 win in Starkville, Miss.Twelve games in the last 39 years have been decided by seven points or less, and the Bulldog offense has not been able to throw for more than 100 yards against the Auburn defense in each of the last three meetings.The Bulldogs defeated Jackson State last Saturday at home in front of a sell-out crowd of 54,232, the third-largest in school history.Mississippi State manufactured 20 first downs, 410 yards of total offense and both quarterbacks, Chris Relf and Tyson Lee, saw action.Relf was 7-10 for 75 yards, three touchdowns and 202 total yards, 82 of which were rushing, while starter Lee was 9-14 for 97 yards.Mullen said junior tight end Brandon Henderson is questionable for Saturday's game with an ankle injury, while right guard Tobias Smith should be back.Running back Anthony Dixon, who missed the first game for a DUI arrest, will also be back for the Auburn game to much the delight of Mullen, who said it will give them extra support at that position.For Saturday's game against the Tigers, Mullen plans to continue a two-quarterback system with Tyson Lee and Chris Relf.
