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Auburn-Mississippi St. Preview

Sep 7, 2010 - 7:26 PM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Editor

Auburn (1-0) at Mississippi State (1-0), 7:30 p.m. EDT

Auburn quarterback Cameron Newton was named the SEC's offensive player of the week for his impressive debut with the Tigers. Now, he hopes his performance translates to conference play.

The 21st-ranked Tigers open their SEC slate on Thursday night at Mississippi State, which hopes to prevent a fifth consecutive Auburn victory in Starkville.

Newton arrived at Auburn this season after starting his career with Florida, then spending the 2009 season leading Blinn College to the junior college national championship.

He didn't waste any time sparking the Tigers (1-0) to victory, throwing for 186 yards and three touchdowns and adding 171 rushing yards and two scores in a 52-26 win over Arkansas State on Saturday.

"I don't know if I have seen an individual performance better than Cam Newton's. He is the best player I have ever seen live," Arkansas State coach Steve Roberts. "He made a huge difference in the ball game tonight - he is hard to bring down."

Second-year Auburn coach Gene Chizik was also pleased with his new quarterback, who leads an offense that ranked 16th nationally in 2009 but lost quarterback Chris Todd and top rusher Ben Tate.

"He did some nice things when maybe something wasn't there," Chizik said of Newton. "He turned some bad plays into good ones."

Auburn went 8-5 last year, including a win over Northwestern in the Outback Bowl, but the team is hoping to improve on a 3-5 record in conference play - its second straight losing SEC campaign.

The Tigers, however, have won eight of nine meetings with Mississippi State, including four straight on the road.

Their most lopsided SEC win last year was a 49-24 victory over the Bulldogs on Sept. 12. Mississippi State had few answers for Auburn's running game, which totaled five touchdowns and 390 yards - matching its most since totaling 405 yards on the ground against the Bulldogs on Oct. 18, 2003.

Coming off back-to-back losing seasons, Mississippi State (1-0) held Memphis to 41 rushing yards to open with a 49-7 win Saturday.

The Bulldogs' passing game keyed the victory, totaling 372 yards and five touchdowns. Although junior Chris Relf started at quarterback, freshman Tyler Russell played most of the game, going 13 of 16 for 256 yards and four touchdowns - two each to sophomores Chad Bumphis and Brandon Heavens.

"There were a lot of guys that were getting their first action out there today, and they responded," Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen said. "It is great to get that under their belt and get them some confidence going into the SEC schedule.

"That is a whole different ballgame when you start conference play, especially with a solid opponent," Mullen added. "I am expecting a big time atmosphere here Thursday night."

Auburn hasn't played well on the road well the last two years, losing seven of eight since a bizarre 3-2 win at Mississippi State on Sept. 13, 2008. The Tigers hope their defense plays like it did in that game, when it held the Bulldogs to 116 total yards.

The unit wasn't as sharp Saturday, allowing Arkansas State to rack up 323 passing yards.

"We have to make better tackles, especially in the open field," linebacker Josh Bynes said. "(It) was the first game, and I am not going to say it was first-game jitters, but all I can say is we have some things we need to work on."

It's unclear if Auburn will have linebacker Craig Stevens back in the lineup after he was suspended for the opener for disciplinary reasons. Stevens ranked second on the team in tackles last year.

"We hold our guys to a certain standard of excellence, and that is on the field and that is off the field," said Chizik, who didn't elaborate on the punishment. "If they are not living up to that certain standard right now then I've got tough decisions that I have to make."