Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen phoned a coaching buddy Sunday night to offer condolences for a tough loss. That friend was Utah State coach Gary Andersen, whose team nearly knocked off defending BCS champ Auburn.
The call might have had another purpose since Mississippi State opens SEC play at Auburn on Saturday, one week after the Tigers extended their winning streak to 16 games by scoring two touchdowns in the final 2:07 for a 42-38 victory.
Mullen didn’t elaborate on his conversation with Andersen, who coached with Mullen on Urban Meyer’s staff at Utah in 2004, only saying that they also had talked during the summer. He might have gained firsthand info about Auburn’s young players.
“I think everybody saw last week that they know how to win games,” Mullen said. “No matter what the situation is, they find a way to win.”
Mississippi State experienced that last season, when Auburn defeated the Bulldogs 17-14 on Sept. 9, despite being held scoreless in the second half.
The Bulldogs rolled up 645 yards in their 59-14 opening rout of Memphis on Thursday and then watched as Auburn tried out replacements for Cam Newton and other starters from last year’s team.
Quarterback Barrett Trotter was among 11 Tigers who made their first career starts, and 11 defensive linemen saw action. Also, Auburn played 13 freshmen and eight redshirt freshmen. The youth contributed to Utah State finishing with 445 yards of offense and holding a 38-28 lead with 3:38 left in the game.
“I think they have to grow up,” Auburn coach Gene Chizik said. “I think that there are a lot of moving parts in your first game. ... I think at one point in the game, we had counted somewhere between 20 and 22 new guys that were playing a pretty significant role on the field, which is a lot of people.”
Burning question
Can Tauren Poole have another 1,000-yard season at Tennessee?
Although Poole, who is from Stephens County, rushed for 98 yards and a touchdown, Tennessee had only 128 yards on the ground and averaged 2.8 yards a carry in a 42-16 win over Montana, an FBS (formerly Division I-AA) team.
That numbers left coach Derek Dooley worried about his running game. “It always starts with coaching, but the offensive line didn’t play as well as it’s capable of, we didn’t block on the perimeter like we’re capable at receiver, and the runners didn’t run consistently enough with that commitment,” he said.
Poole rushed for 1,034 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2010, his first as a starter. He wasn’t pleased with his performance Saturday, telling the Chattanooga Times Free Press that he wasn’t focused on hitting the right holes.
In focus
Rokevious Watkins’ path to South Carolina was bumpy and filled with hazards, but he has found a home in Columbia.
Watkins went to Creekside, where he struggled with grades and drugs, and where he also played football, befriending and blocking for former Creekside and Tennessee star Eric Berry, who now plays for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Berry helped Watkins straighten up, but not in time for him to become eligible at UAB, where he initially signed. Watkins went to Grossmont College in El Cajon, Calif., grew homesick and played a season at Georgia Military College before signing with South Carolina in 2009. He has become one of the Gamecocks’ top offensive linemen.
Watkins, who is 6 feet 4, 340 pounds, is the SEC’s Offensive Lineman of the week after grading out at 87 percent with eight knockdown blocks, four pancakes and no sacks allowed in a 56-37 victory over East Carolina.
Etc.
Freshman running back Josh Clemens (Whitewater) led Kentucky with 39 yards on 11 carries and scored on a 14-yard run. ... Auburn tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen (Lassiter) has eight career touchdown receptions after catching a 15-yard scoring pass in the fourth quarter. ... Arkansas’ Joe Adams tied a single-game SEC record by returning two punts for touchdowns in Arkansas’ 51-7 victory over Missouri State. He scored on returns of 61 and 78 yards. ... Senior defensive tackle Justin Smith (Chattahoochee) had two tackles in his first career start for Mississippi.
By the numbers
18 Consecutive games with a touchdown pass for Arkansas, the longest current streak in the SEC.
190 Yards of total offense by Kentucky in the Wildcats’ 14-3 victory over Western Kentucky, ahead of only Florida Atlantic, Akron, Kent State and Marshall among FBS teams after one week.
Quotable
“There’s nothing about this game that is going to be pretty. It’s going to be hard-nosed, old school. The game comes down simple when you play teams like this. You see ball and hit ball. It’s as simple as that.” — Auburn defensive tackle Jeffrey Whitaker (Warner Robins) on this week’s game against Mississippi State, as told to al.com.
“I don’t know how this happened, but I had a dream [Friday] night that my first catch would be a touchdown. It worked out that way. But I didn’t think my second catch [would be] one, too.” — Vanderbilt redshirt freshman receiver Chris Boyd (Roswell), who scored his first two touchdowns in the Commodores’ 45-14 victory over Elon.
Schedule
Central Michigan at Kentucky, noon (ESPNU)
Mississippi State at Auburn, 12:21 p.m. (WPCH)
Cincinnati at Tennessee, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Alabama at Penn State, 3:30 p.m. (ABC)
South Carolina at Georgia, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Southern Illinois at Mississippi, 6 p.m.
New Mexico at Arkansas, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
UAB at Florida, 7 p.m. (FSSO)
Connecticut at Vanderbilt, 7:30 p.m. (CSS)
Northwestern State at LSU, 8 p.m.
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