AU FOOTBALL 2009 OPPONENT PREVIEWS: Mississippi State, AU face similar challenges in new season

Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series previewing Auburn’s 2009 football opponents. This week: Mississippi State (Sept. 12). The series will run weekly.

Everything about this year’s version of Mississippi State promises to be different.

All the way down to the jerseys.

The coach is new, the offense is new and Bulldog fans hope the results will follow suit.

Dan Mullen, the former offensive coordinator of the national champion Florida Gators, was named Sylvester Croom’s replacement shortly before Gene Chizik took over at Auburn.

And just like Chizik, he was greeted with a glaring amount of inconsistency at quarterback.

Tyson Lee, who started eight of the Bulldogs’ games in 2008, returns for his senior season, but that wasn’t enough to solidify a spot on top of Mullen’s depth chart. He and sophomore Chris Reif battled to a “50-50” draw in spring practice heading into summer workouts.

Sound familiar?

The only difference is that the fan favorite for the job hasn’t put a pair of Mississippi State pads on yet.

Meridian prep star and the gem of Mullen’s recruiting class, Tyler Russell, could have a legitimate chance at the starting job once camp opens in the fall.

Mullen, though, has thrown caution to the wind over that prospect.

“There’s probably six or seven other guys I’m expecting a lot more out of as true freshmen,” Mullen told the Mobile Press-Register last week. “Throwing and running is only about fifth or sixth of what you’re looking for in a quarterback.

“You’re looking for all the other intangibles that you have to see live and in person. You have to see those things when he comes in.”

Those other six or seven guys Mullen speaks of are likely wide receivers, where the Bulldogs are even thinner heading into the 2009 season.

Again, is this starting to hit home yet?

The team’s leading receiver from 2008, Brandon McRae, is back, but he sat out the entire spring with a broken leg. The rest of the Bulldogs receivers were either unproductive, unproven or both last season.

The Bulldogs’ 2009 recruiting class included seven wide receivers. Undoubtedly, at least one will emerge as a regular player.

The lone consistent and returning cog for the Bulldogs’ offense is running back Anthony Dixon, who has been a fixture at Mississippi State since midway through the 2006 season. Dixon ran for 869 yards and seven touchdowns last season.

If his activity this spring is any indication, Dixon will be all over the field when the Tigers and Bulldogs meet Sept. 12.

According to USA Today, Dixon, who dropped 20 pounds in the offseason, lined up at receiver and in the shotgun, direct snap formation constantly during the spring.

The offense will likely be catered to whomever learns Mullen’s spread offense fastest.

“The first thing we have to do is pick up exactly where we left off, if not more improved,” Mullen told the Mobile Press-Register. “We can’t start teaching the offense over again in the fall. We have to come out to practice No. 1 and be one step ahead of where we left it in the spring.”

While Mullen is the youngest coach in the SEC, his defensive coordinator Carl Torbush is one of the most experienced.

The unit he inherits is also a few years ahead of the offense.

The Bulldogs’ defense certainly wasn’t to blame for MSU’s 4-8 finish in 2008. For reference, see Auburn 3, Mississippi State 2.

Linebacker Jamar Chaney, who missed most of 2008 with a broken leg, returns for a fifth year after he was granted a medical redshirt. Junior college transfer Pernell McPhee is expected to play right away at defensive tackle, which should make Mississippi State tough up the middle.

So, aside from some depth issues in the secondary, the defense should be just fine, which will put all the focus on Mississippi State’s new coach and the offense.

Who would have thought it’d only take two weeks into the season for Auburn to be able to look in the mirror?

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