Auburn at Mississippi
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
This Saturday the No.1 ranked Auburn Tigers will look to avoid a major letdown when they go on the road to take on the Mississippi Rebels in SEC action. The Tigers took over the top spot in the BCS standings after they beat LSU at home 24-17 and then No.1 Oklahoma lost to Missouri on the road. The Rebels kept things close against Arkansas last week, but ended up losing 38-14 for their second straight conference loss. If you are thinking about betting on the game this weekend, the current odds have the Tigers favored by 7-points over the Rebels on the road.
Auburn (8-0, 5-0 SEC): While the Tigers didn’t exactly blow out LSU like a lot of people expected them to, they still managed to win the game and that’s all that matters when you play in the tough SEC. Auburn has done a great job winning the close games this season, as five of their eight wins have come by eight points or less.
It comes as no surprise to anyone that the Auburn offense starts and finishes with junior quarterback Cam Newton, who not only has the Tigers off to a great start, but is the leading candidate to win the Heisman at this point in the season. Last week Newton threw for just 86 yards, but was unbelievable on the ground, rushing for a career-high 217 yards and two touchdowns, and now has 1,077 yards rushing on the season, the most ever by an SEC quarterback, and he still has four regular season games to go.
The Tigers defense held LSU to just 243 yards of total offense, but figure to have a much harder task on defense this week against a Mississippi offense that comes in averaging over 410 yards of total offense per game. If the Tigers struggle on defense, this could be yet another week where the top team goes down.
Mississipi (3-4, 1-3 SEC): The Rebels got off to a real slow start, scoring just three points in the first half, but they got things going in the second half and pulled within seven points twice, but could not stop the Razorbacks from countering with a touchdown of their own.
Quarterback Jeremiah Masoli completed 21 of 36 attempts for 327 yards and three touchdowns, including two in the fourth quarter to wide out Markeith Summers. For the Rebels to have a chance in this game, Massoli is going to have to have a very similar game and can’t afford any turnovers as the Tigers figure to put up a ton of points on the Rebels relatively weak defense.
Looking at the Odds: I know this is a prime time for Auburn to lose focus an lose on the road, but I don’t think that will be the case at all. I think Auburn comes into Mississippi and rolls the Rebels, with Newton having another huge day on the ground. The Rebels will score, but I don’t think there is anyway they keep it within a touchdown. My final score prediction is Auburn 45, Mississippi 30.
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