The Auburn Tigers are on their way to bowl eligibility in their first season with head coach Alex Golesh, but there’s another important challenge this weekend with another away SEC game. 

Auburn is travelling to Starkville, Mississippi to face the Missisippi State Bulldogs with the cowbells in mind, looking to pick up back-to-back wins to be perfect so far in November. However, it won’t be as easy as it seems. 

Although the Bulldogs are on a five-game losing streak since winning their first four games of the season, Auburn is traveling to Starkville on Saturday morning, adding a different element of fatigue that the Tigers will need to brave entering the game. 

Speaking to the media on Monday, Golesh has seen other SEC teams trip up with this type of travel. 

“Early kick, on the road, in the league,” he said. “Every challenge you can imagine comes with it. This is a tough travel. I talked about it at length this morning that the morning game piece is real. This is as early of a start with a legit travel and a bus ride in the morning.”

The Bulldogs are without their star quarterback, Kamario Taylor, for the rest of the season with toe surgery. Since he went down in the Alabama game, Mississippi State hasn’t been the same type of team. However, it still has the playmakers that made Taylor an early Heisman contender. 

That type of speed, led by running back Fluff Bothwell and wideouts, Anthony Evans III and Sanfrisco Magee, is what worries Golesh. 

“This is not a team that you can lollygag around because they have the ability to put points at a high clip. Tempo offense, really explosive at wideout,” he said. “Obviously, they are trying to work through finding their balance offensively after losing one of the best players in our league. And they played two quarterbacks since then.

Defensively, Jeff Lebby’s group can defend the run like the best in the conference, ranking sixth in rushing yards allowed per game with only 121 yards per carry allowed so far this season. The issue that the Bulldogs have seen is through the air, being the worst pass defense in the SEC and averaging over 250 passing yards per game.

Although it’s an advantage for Golesh and quarterback Byrum Brown, the Mississippi State defense won’t let them get it without a tactical gameplan. 

“One of the better run-stopping defenses in the country, they make it incredibly hard. The scheme is different,” Golesh said. “The scheme's unique. The scheme is a hard prep. So, we've got to do a really good job being detailed out.”

The game script is there for Auburn to win this game: get the pass attack going and limit the skill position pieces from getting out into the open field. That’s easier said than done, though, especially in an environment that will want to hold off the Tigers’ bowl game hopes until next week. 

Golesh will look to change that to earn a sixth win this season. 

“Like I said, really excited,” he said. “I think our guys are in really good spirits. I think there's some really good teaching moments from last weekend.”

Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. central from Davis Wade Stadium, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.