Auburn opens SEC schedule Thursday at Mississippi State

Auburn’s 2010 season began last week with quarterback Cameron Newton running wild for 171 rushing yards, passing for 186 yards and accounting for five touchdowns in the Tigers’ 52-26 win against Arkansas State.

This week he will face a tougher defense with Auburn travels to Mississippi State for both teams Southeastern Conference opener.

The game will be a showdown of the nation’s top two teams in passing efficiency. The Bulldogs lead the nation with a rating of 262.99 after completing 20-of-25 passes for 372 yards and five touchdowns against Memphis.

Auburn is second with a rating of 257.20 following a performance where the quarterbacks combined to complete 11-of-16 passes for 241 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions against Arkansas State.

The biggest flaw in Auburn’s game was the pass defense, which gave up 322 yards to Arkansas State.

If the Tigers’ secondary can’t shut down the Bulldogs receivers, it could be a long night for Auburn.

Mississippi State had two receivers crack the 100-yard mark last week. Chad Bumphis caught four passes for 100 yards and a pair of touchdowns while Brandon Heavens had five catches for 112 yards and two scores.

Auburn’s offense had little trouble scoring, and it might prove to be a problem this week. The Tigers had five touchdown drives in the first half and none of them took longer than two minutes. The drives totaled 16 plays and covered 293 yards.

If the offense scores too quickly, the defense will spend quite a bit of time on the field against the potent Mississippi State passing attack.

Auburn has faired well in the series, leading the Bulldogs 58-23-2. The Tigers are also 6-2 all-time in Thursday night games including a 4-0 record against SEC teams. The last Thursday night SEC game for Auburn was a 42-14 victory at Mississippi State in 2002.