AU-MISS ST: Tigers looking for turnaround in regular season finale
Tank Bigsby is still dealing with injuries but continues to grind out yardage for the Auburn Tigers (Auburn Media Relations/Todd Van Emst)
By TIM GAYLE
After losing back-to-back games against ranked teams the last two weeks, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn admitted it was “very important” for the Tigers to close out the regular season with a win over Mississippi State.
“We actually talked about that with our team Sunday after the game,” he said. “We weren’t fortunate enough to get these seniors out on a victory (the day before against No. 5 Texas A&M), so this is a big game for us and we want to do everything in our power to try and get a victory. It’s not going to be easy, on the road in our league with a team that’s playing good football right now. It’ll be a challenge, but I think it’ll be very important if we can get the victory.”
Auburn (5-4) is a 6.5-point favorite to snap the losing streak with a win over the Bulldogs. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. with a game televised on the SEC Network.
Mississippi State (2-6) has a pair of back-to-back losses to Georgia and Ole Miss by identical 31-24 scores, but the Bulldogs had chances to win despite playing short-handed because of COVID-19 issues.
“I’ve been glad that we’ve played because, like I say, we’re not going to get any better here unless we play,” Bulldog coach Mike Leach said. “I do know that we’re going to take some licks too. You march into Athens with 43 scholarship guys and here we go. But we got better as a team. I’m disappointed we didn’t win, and it was there. It was right in our hands. We could have won that. I think we should have won it. We definitely got better that week, and we improved that week. I was really proud of the effort of our guys, probably as proud as I’ve been of any team I’ve ever coached.”
Leach said his numbers haven’t improved much this week, but Malzahn said he saw enough the last two weeks to leave an impression on the Auburn coach.
“If you look at their defense, they’re very good against the run,” he said. “They’re very disruptive with the different things they do. Offensively, I’m really impressed with the quarterback (Will Rogers); since he’s taken over the starting job he’s protected the ball very well considering how many times he’s thrown the ball. I think the big thing is that they’re protecting the football better than they did in the first half of the season.”
Like an earlier trip to Mississippi this season to play Ole Miss, Auburn’s chances of winning the game increase with their ability to run the ball, which allows their offense to be more diverse while keeping the opposing offense on the sideline.
“With us, we need to run the football effectively,” Malzahn said. “Just like I said last week, I think we did a really solid job against the No. 1 defense (Texas A&M) in the league, we just didn’t have a lot of possessions. It’s going to be similar. We’re going to have to earn the rushing yards. (Quarterback) Bo (Nix) being a part of the running game, I’ve said this before, it opens it up more. Strategically, we’ll try to do that. There haven’t been a whole lot of quarterbacks, up to this point, that have been successful running (against the Bulldog defense), but we’ll see how it goes.”
Leach, never one to hide his emotions after a loss, said there were plenty of positives to take away from losses at Georgia and at Ole Miss the last two weeks.
“I think the most important thing for us to do is be the best team that we can be,” he said. “We’ve got kind of a thin squad, but we have to put people in the positions that will help move the team the best and also can elevate their abilities. We’ve got a lot of young guys that are going to do a lot of great things, but if it was such a great idea to play true freshmen then everybody would do it. I’ve never played this many freshmen before, but it’s kind of fun. I could get used to it. I mean it’s exciting. It ticks you off when you see some mistake out there, but then all of a sudden you see some guy that’s supposed to be in high school or going to the prom a few months ago do something pretty great against Georgia or something like that. It’s fulfilling too.”
Malzahn hopes this week follows a similar script. As usual at the end of a season under Malzahn, there is some grumbling among the Auburn fans unhappy with the season. A loss to Mississippi State would certainly increase the heat on his coaching status with the Tigers.
“I’ve got a job that I’ve said before expects to win championships, and I do, too,” he said. “The years that you’re not in the mix, that’s just part of it. I’m blessed to be here and excited not only about this game but I’m excited about next year.”