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Previewing The Miss State Bulldogs

By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

It’s hard to believe it’s almost game time again. I pledge to you that I will stay away from the quarterback discussion today. Is there really anything else that can be said about Brandon Cox that hasn’t been said already?

Let’s take a quick look at this weekend’s game with Mississippi State (again thanks to the Auburn SI Department)...

The Bulldogs will again be lead by junior quarterback Michael Henig from Montgomery. Brandon Cox (damn, broke my rule already) only thinks he had a bad week. Hennig threw six interceptions in the season opener against LSU.

How bad was it? He got called to the mat by his own professor while sitting in class. The professor started the session by cracking on Henig. "He mentioned my name in class. It wasn't very professional," Henig said. "He apologized. That's over. He said he didn't know I was in the class." Ouch!

If lineage is any indicator, Henig is a determined optimist. For years his family owned Henig Furs in Columbus, Georgia. Anybody that believes they can sell furs in the Deep South has to be determined. I guess that’s how he’s survived the beating in Starkville.

Henig grew up an Auburn fan and dreamed of playing for the Tigers. Unfortunately for him, Auburn never offered a scholarship...

Tommy Tuberville is 8-0 in SEC openers primarily because he plays teams that suck early. Overall, Auburn has won 14 consecutive conference openers...

All 46 points scored by Auburn this season have been scored by freshmen and sophomores, including 22 by true freshman Wes Byrum...

Freshman placekicker Wes Byrum is tied for the national lead with six field goals made, while redshirt freshman punter Ryan Shoemaker leads the SEC with a 45.1-yard average...

The wide receivers coach for the Bulldogs is former Auburn quarterback Pat Washington. He played on the Plains from 1982-85, starting his junior and senior seasons. In that time, he lead Auburn to a 17-8 record.

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. Pat Sullivan served as head coach...

The Bulldogs cruised to a 38-17 win over Tulane in New Orleans last week. They outscored the Green Wave 21-0 in the second half...

State put up nearly 500 yards of offense last week; the most since 1992...

Miss State ranks fifth in the SEC in total defense, allowing just 295 yards per game...

It’s no surprise that defensive end Quentin Groves leads the SEC in tackles for losses with five. That ranks sixth nationally...

Junior linebacker Chris Evans earned his first career start against South Florida, filling in for an injured Tray Blackmon. The result was the highest tackles total by an Auburn player in almost five years. Evans tallied 14 tackles (five solo, nine assists), which was the most by an Auburn player since Karlos Dansby had 14 tackles at Florida on Oct. 19, 2002...

Senior Prechae Rodriguez leads Auburn with nine receptions for 108 yards through the first two games of the season. Last year, it was seven games into the season before Rodriguez had nine catches, and it took eight games before he reached 108 receiving yards...

Auburn's first two opponents have had strong starts, but the Tigers have been able to make quick adjustments. In the first two games, Kansas State and South Florida combined for 239 yards of offense in the first quarter and 17 points scored, but in the second quarter, Auburn allowed those two squads a combined total of just 55 yards and no points.