Auburn vs. Mississippi State Bulldogs Pre-Game Notes
Auburn Football Fans:
War Eagle! This is the Auburn vs. Mississippi
State issue of the
AuburnFootball.com Tiger Insider Newsletter. The game will be played
Saturday, September 13, 2008 in Starkville, Mississippi. The game, which
is the SEC opener for both schools, will be played at 6:00pm CST and will
be televised by ESPN2. This is a
revenge game for Auburn, as State won last year at Auburn by a score of 19 to 14
in a struggle. Future schedule information, TV listings, and game times can be
found at:
http://www.auburnfootball.com/2008-auburn-football-schedule.htm .
Todd Remains Starter – Quoting Coach Tuberville:
What's the game plan for quarterback this week?
"Knowing that we've got two quarterbacks who we feel good about, you can still
only have one guy who gets a majority of the reps in practice and that is
usually your starter, no matter what kind of offense you're running or what team
you're on. Kodi (Burns) will learn from a lot of mental reps. Chris (Todd) will
probably get seventy percent of the reps in practice in terms of team wise.
Chris is our starter and he will be given the reins. There won't be a short
leash. We want him to be in the game and competing, making sure that everything
is going right in terms of the competitive part. Kodi is going to be ready to
come in at any time, special situations, and crucial situations when things
aren't going too well. I'm glad that we've got two quarterbacks, but I'm also
glad that we've got one guy that everyone can look at as the guy that's going to
play well for us and lead this team."
On the Message Boards
Not only is Auburn Football a hot topic, political talk is
heating up the message boards at
www.auburnfootball.com. Sometimes the talk gets heated, but we remain
united as a friendly community of dedicated Auburn fans. Check out the message
boards and give us your opinions!
AUBURN – MISSISSIPPI STATE GAME NOTES
From the Auburn University Press Release
AUBURN HEADLINES
* Auburn leads the all-time series with Mississippi State, 56-23-2, but MSU won
last year in Auburn, 19-14.
* Auburn is 41-28-5 in SEC openers, but had its 14-game winning streak in SEC
openers snapped last year by MSU. Auburn is 5-0 under Tommy Tuberville when
opening SEC play on the road.
* Auburn has won 15 of its last 16 games when wearing all white uniforms.
* Auburn leads the SEC in opponents' third-down conversion percentage,
surrendering just three first downs in 32 attempts (9.4 percent).
* Auburn's nine shutouts since the 2000 season are tied with LSU for the most in
the SEC during that span. No other SEC school has more than four shutouts since
2000.
* Robert Dunn leads the SEC and ranks sixth nationally in punt returns (24.4),
and his 171 punt return yards is the most in the nation.
* Auburn leads the SEC and ranks ninth nationally in net punting (40.7), thanks
largely to Clinton Durst's average of 43.8 with six fair catches.
* Rodgeriqus Smith needs three receptions and 52 receiving yards to move into
the top 10 on Auburn's career lists in both categories.
* Brad Lester needs 3 yards rushing and Ben Tate needs 19 yards rushing to
become the 22nd and 23rd backs in Auburn history to amass 1,500 career rushing
yards.
* Auburn had 11 players catch passes last Saturday for the first time since
2005, and already has 13 players with at least one reception this season.
* Auburn has played 12 true freshmen already this season and 21 players have
played their first game for Auburn this season.
* Auburn has scored in 65 consecutive games since being shut out in the 2003
season opener.
* Auburn is currently ranked ninth in the Associated Press top 25 poll and in
the USA Today coaches poll. This season marked the sixth straight season that
Auburn was nationally-ranked in the preseason polls, and the third time with a
top-10 AP ranking.
* Tommy Tuberville passed Pat Dye in winning percentage in Auburn history with
the victory over Southern Miss, improving his percentage to .713 at Auburn.
AUBURN IN SEC OPENERS
Auburn is 41-28-5 in SEC openers, but had its 14-game winning streak in openers
snapped last season by Mississippi State.
In its last 10 SEC openers, Auburn has outscored its opponents, 334-110. In
2006, Auburn blanked Mississippi State, 34-0, after beating the Bulldogs 28-0
and 43-14, in the two previous seasons. The Tigers defeated Ole Miss, 19-9, in
1997; 17-0, in 1998; 35-27, in 2000; and 27-21 in 2001. In 1999, Auburn defeated
LSU, 41-7, and beat Vanderbilt 31-6 and 45-7 in 2002 and 2003.
TUBERVILLE IN SEC OPENERS
Tommy Tuberville owns an 8-1 mark in SEC openers at Auburn and is 8-5 overall
including his stint at Ole Miss. Five of his previous nine conference openers at
Auburn have come on the road and Auburn won all five: 1999 at LSU (41-7), 2000
at Ole Miss (35-27), 2003 at Vanderbilt (45-7) and 2004 (43-14) and 2006 (34-0)
at Mississippi State.
AUBURN-MSU SERIES NOTES
Auburn leads the all-time series with Mississippi State, 56-23-2 ... Saturday's
meeting between the two schools will mark the 54th consecutive year the two
schools have played each other ... Auburn has won 19 of the last 26 in the
series ... Mississippi State has been held to 19 or fewer points in each of the
last nine games in the series, averaging 12.1 points per game during that span
... Just 11 games in the last 38 years have been decided by seven points or
less, including three consecutive from 1999-2001 ... Mississippi State has
averaged just 83 yards passing against the Auburn defense in the last three
meetings, and has not thrown for 200 yards against the Tigers since 2002.
MISSISSIPPI STATE QUICK HITTERS
Mississippi State bounced back from a disappointing 22-14 loss to Louisiana Tech
in its season opener with a 34-10 victory over Southeastern Louisiana on Sept. 6
... The Bulldogs rolled up 401 yards of offense, including 216 on the ground,
while holding Southeastern Louisiana to just 148 yards of total offense ... MSU
is ranked 17th nationally in total defense (208.5), and 15th in rushing defense,
allowing only 63.5 yards per game on the ground ... Mississippi State was picked
to finish fourth in the West in the SEC Preseason Poll conducted by the league's
media ... DB Derek Pegues was a first-team Preseason All-SEC selection by the
SEC coaches and media, while RB Anthony Dixon and LB Jamar Chaney were
second-team picks ... DB Keith Fitzhugh is tied for the SEC lead with two
interceptions.
ALABAMA BULLDOGS
Mississippi State has 19 players on its roster from the state of Alabama: DL
Tyler Behel (Winfield), WR Aubrey Bell (Prichard), DL Nick Bell (Bessemer), OL
Johnny Carpenter (Citronelle), TE Kendrick Cook (Attalla), SN Aaron Feld
(Homewood), DB Robert Gurley (Dothan), LB Terrell Johnson (Cullomburg), QB Todd
Kilpatrick (Monroeville), OL D.J. Looney (Birmingham), OL Mark Melichar
(Birmingham), DB Chris Nance (Tuscumbia), QB Chris Relf (Montgomery), DB Andrew
Shannon (Trussville), DB Zach Smith (Altoona), WR Major Sosebee (Warrior), RB
Arnil Stallworth (Daphne), LB Bo Walters (Wilsonville), and DB Louis Watson
(Mobile), MISSISSIPPI TIGERS
Auburn has three players on its team from the state of Mississippi: DL Andre
Wadley (Hernando), OL Chaz Ramsey (Madison) and DB Drew Cole (Picayune).
AUBURN-MISSISSIPPI STATE COACHING TIES
* Mississippi State wide receivers coach Pat Washington played quarterback at
Auburn from 1982-85, starting as a junior and senior and helping the team to
four straight bowl games. He had a 17-8 record as a starting quarterback, and
then served two seasons as a graduate assistant coach.
* Washington also coached the quarterbacks and receivers at TCU, where he worked
with Auburn offensive line coach Hugh Nall in 1992 and 1993, and Auburn strength
and conditioning coach Kevin Yoxall in 1992.
* Mississippi State safeties coach Charlie Harbison coached the defensive backs
at Clemson in 1997 during Auburn tight ends/inside receivers coach Steve
Ensminger's first season as the Tigers' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks
coach.
* Mississippi State defensive backs coach Melvin Smith was on the Ole Miss staff
in 1994 when Auburn running backs coach Eddie Gran began his stint with the
Rebels.
SMITH SHINES VS. BULLDOGS
Senior wideout Rodgeriqus Smith has 1,323 career receiving yards in 34 career
games played (38.9 ypg), and 201 of his yards have come against Mississippi
State in just three games played (67 ypg). In fact, Smith racked up those
numbers with just seven total catches, for an average of 28.7 yards per catch
against the Bulldogs. As a freshman in 2005 he caught just one ball against MSU,
but it went for a 38-yard gain. In 2006 in Starkville, he caught only two
passes, but one was a 62-yard TD reception and the other went for 23 yards. Last
year he caught four balls for 78 yards against the Bulldogs.
IN THE POLLS
Auburn remains 9th this week in the polls.
GAME TICKETS
Tickets are still available! Last minute tickets may be available. Check
prices by visiting
www.auburnfootball.com, and clicking on the Tickets link, or searching our
Ebay custom search located on our tickets page. In the past, tickets have been
easily found at the stadium in Starkville at amazingly cheap prices.
Mississippi State has the cheapest ticket face values of any school in the SEC,
and it isn’t uncommon to find scalper tickets for $10 or less a piece.
RADIO:
The game will be broadcast throughout the Southeast on Auburn Network affiliate
stations. For a full list of Auburn Network affiliates, please visit
http://www.auburnfootball.com/auburn-radio.htm. This list will be updated
as soon as possible, it is probable that several changes will be made by
Saturday.
INTERNET:
Live audio & stats at
www.auburntigers.com. Also free radio coverage may be provided by Yahoo
Sports at
http://sports.yahoo.com.
REPLAY ON CSS
Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast (CSS) will broadcast encore presentations of
Auburn football every Sunday at 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT with Andy Burcham handling
play-by-play duties and Cole Cubelic doing color commentary. CSS will also air
the Auburn Football Review every Tuesday at 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT and the Auburn
Football Preview every Friday at 4:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. CT. CSS is a 24-hour
regional sports network serving approximately 5.8 million households across 12
Southeastern states.
UPDATES AND LATE BREAKING NEWS
Injury updates and late-breaking Auburn news can always be found on our
message boards. Visit our main web page at
www.auburnfootball.com, and click on the TIGER INSIDER MESSAGE BOARDS
link to find one of the best online Auburn communities on the internet!
LOOKING AHEAD
The Auburn football game against LSU at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Sept. 20 will
be televised by ESPN. Kickoff is slated for 6:45 p.m. CT.
Thanks and War Eagle!
Thomas "T." Price
AU Pharm '92
tprice@auburnfootball.com
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