A Look At Mississippi State

• 1-0 on the season, defeated Jackson State 45-7 last week
• Head coach Dan Mullen enters his first season at Mississippi State after three seasons as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Florida.
• Last season went 4-8 overall (2-6 SEC) and finished T-4 in the West
• Auburn defeated MSU 3-2 last season in one of the ugliest games I have ever seen.
• Returning six of eleven offensive starters including the current SEC leading rusher Anthony Dixon.
• Returning five of eleven starters on defense including two linebackers.
• Offense was ranked 113th overall, 115th in scoring, 105th in rushing and 94th in passing.
• Defense was ranked 35th overall, 60th in scoring, 73rd in rushing and 17th in passing.
• MSU returns senior quarterback Tyson Lee who played in 11 games last season and passed for 1519 yards, 7 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Sophomore quarterback Chris Relf came in in key moments in the season opener, throwing for all three passing quarterbacks.
• The offensive star is Anthony Dixon. He averaged 4.4 yards per carry last season while rushing for 869 yards and 7 touchdowns. Dixon was suspended from the season opener this season.
• The defensive standouts are linebacker Jamar Chaney and K.J. Wright. Chaney led the team in tackles in 2007 before breaking his ankle in the opening game last season. He led the team in tackles last week with two solo and three assists.
• Watch out for true freshman Chad Bumphis who looks to be a large part of Mullen's spread. Bumphis caught two balls for 22 yards last week, both going for touchdowns.
• While State put up 45 yards in their first game, it was against Jackson State and it was the first time a team from the SWAC had ever played a team from the SEC. This is a team whose only wins last season were against S.E. Louisiana, Vanderbilt, Middle Tennessee and Arkansas.
• State signed a JUCO kicker and punter for this season but Sean Brauchle turned heads in their spring game with a 57 yard field goal. Brauchle was 1/3 on field goals last week, making from 25 and missing 37 and 38 yarders. Heath Hutchins had two punts with an average of 49 yards last week. After losing Derek Pegues to graduation, State could hurt in the return game. Leon Berry was the leading returner last week returning one kickoff 38 yards and one punt for -1 yard.
• Auburn leads in the all-time series, 54-25-3 (38-18-2 at home). From 2002-2006, Auburn averaged 38.4 PPG against State but average just 8.5 in the last two meetings.