Auburn football vs. Mississippi State: Our scouting report, score prediction

AUBURN — The storylines associated with Saturday's football game between Auburn and Mississippi State are endless. Between John Cohen resigning as the athletic director in Starkville to take the same position on the Plains, to Carnell "Cadillac" Williams making his coaching debut, off-the-field talking points will be just as prevalent as on-field ones.

But when the Tigers (3-5, 1-4 SEC) run onto the field at Davis Wade Stadium to face the Bulldogs (6:30 p.m., ESPN2), their focus will be on snapping a four-game losing skid.

Auburn comes off a demoralizing 41-27 loss against Arkansas in which the energy just didn't seem to be as present as usual in Jordan-Hare Stadium and led to the firing of Bryan Harsin.

Mississippi State is in the midst of a two-game losing streak, with its most recent loss coming at the hands of Alabama in a 30-6 walloping in Tuscaloosa.

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Here's our scouting report for Saturday's matchup.

Will the Tigers rally around Cadillac?

Bryan Harsin was fired Monday. The writing was on the wall for weeks, but no one could say definitively when the move was going to be made. Would the administration let him finish out the year? Maybe the program would move off of him the week before the Iron Bowl?

But all of that speculation is moot now. Cadillac Williams is the interim head coach down the home stretch of the season, and he's pumped to be in that position.

"I mean, I'm forever indebted to this institution because it changed the whole trajectory of the Williams family," Williams said Wednesday during the SEC coaches teleconference. "I met my wife here, my two boys, Auburn has been so good to me. Every dream that I've wanted to accomplish, this place gave me the opportunity. And now for me to be in this position, I just want to get it out there: Only at Auburn do dreams come true."

Promoting Williams gives the program a shot in the arm for the time being. He's an Auburn legend and an easy name to root for. If the players respect him, and by all accounts they do, Auburn should be playing some inspired football against the Bulldogs.

Tank Bigsby's usage

Harsin wasn't the only coach to be dismissed from the program. Eric Kiesau, who came to Auburn with Harsin from Boise State and served as offensive coordinator this season, was also let go. Ike Hilliard and Will Friend have been elevated from position coaches to co-offensive coordinators, meaning a change in offensive philosophy may be on the horizon.

Tank Bigsby was tabbed as a preseason, first-team, all-SEC running back by the coaches. He's undoubtedly a difference maker with the ball in his hands, but Auburn has struggled at times to feed him because of the large deficits it often faced. Once their opponent started to take a big lead, the Tigers were forced to abandon the run, and that's without mentioning the struggles on the offensive line.

But with Williams, a former running back, in charge, there's a pretty safe assumption to be made the Tigers will lean into the run – maybe even to a fault. And there's some optimism with a guy like Jeremiah Wright stepping up on the offensive line that this plan could work.

Bad run defense vs. bad rushing offense

Auburn has struggled to stop the run all season. The Tigers allow an average of 214.6 rush yards per game, ranking them 127 out of 131 FBS teams. The flip side, however, is Mississippi State is just about as bad at running the ball than Auburn is at stopping it.

The Bulldogs rush for an average of 89.1 yards per game, last in the SEC and No. 124 in the country. Auburn hasn't held a team to less than 130 yards on the ground since its win over San Jose State in the second game of the year. If the Tigers were going to keep a team under the century mark again this season, this may be their best chance to do it.

Of course, the Bulldogs don't average such a low number for no reason. Their passing numbers are gaudy, tallying 321.6 yards through the air per game, which puts them in the top 10 nationally. It'll be up the Auburn's secondary to hold things down if the Tigers are to win.

Score Prediction

Mississippi State 34, Auburn 27: The players will likely come out and play hard for Williams, which keeps this game competitive, but the woes of their offensive line and the proficiency of Mississippi State's passing game are both bad pieces of news for the Tigers.

Richard Silva is the Auburn beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached by email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football vs. Mississippi State: Score prediction, scouting report