Mississippi State Football: 3 keys to victory vs. Auburn in Week 5

Mississippi State football will be tested against a red-hot Auburn team. What do the Bulldogs need to do in order to pull off the upset against Auburn?

Both Auburn and Mississippi State are fresh off of conference wins. Auburn’s big win against Texas A&M has them ranked No. 7 in the nation and Mississippi State’s win against Kentucky has them back on the right path after losing to Kansas State

Mississippi State is a 10.5-point underdog to Auburn this weekend.

While Mississippi State faces an uphill battle as they travel to Auburn, a win is still possible for the Bulldogs and here are three keys the Bulldogs need to do in order to walk out of Auburn with a victory.

3. Avoid giving up the big play

Mississippi State’s defense has not been as dominant as it was last year, however, that is to be expected when you lose several guys to the NFL. In Week 4 against Kentucky, the defense for the Bulldogs played their best game of the season and will look for that to carry over against Auburn’s offense.

One of the keys to beating Auburn is to avoid giving up the big play, which sounds obvious and is a key to any team trying to win any game.

Auburn did score on a 57-yard touchdown run against Texas A&M last week and Bo Nix’s game winning touchdown pass against Oregon was a 26-yard throw. Gus Malzahn’s offense can be hard to defend if you bite on all the motions, and pre-snap movement he uses.

As long as Mississippi State can keep the ball in front of it, the Bulldogs have a chance to force Auburn to settle for field goals and keep the score low.