The Auburn Tigers picked up a much-needed win this past Saturday against the Arkansas Razorbacks, but it is not time to relax yet, as the Tigers have already begun prep for their next matchup against Jeff Lebby’s Mississippi State Bulldogs.

A win against the Bulldogs would be monumental for the Tigers; with two games left, Alex Golesh would have already secured bowl eligibily for his team, a feat that no Auburn coach has been able to muster since 2023, with two games still left on the schedule.

Though the Bulldogs have been spotty this year, both sides of their play have shown incredible poise and playmaking ability at times, though they will notably be without their star dual-threat quarterback, Kamario Taylor. The Tigers still have theirs, though, and Lebby broke down exactly what he sees from Byrum Brown in his Monday press conference.

“It’s gotta be multiple halves,” the Bulldogs’ head coach said. “You see this guy run through trash non-stop. Their entire team, the entire offense runs through him. An incredibly physical runner that has ran the football really, really well. For us, it’s about getting 11 hats to the ball, being able to go get shots on the ball and tackle really, really well in space.”

Brown currently leads the Tigers in overall rushing with a season total of 606 rushing yards and eight touchdowns, dwarfing the production of the Tigers’ RB1, Jeremiah Cobb, who has rushed for just 396 yards and two touchdowns. As Lebby mentioned, the Tigers' offense thrives when Brown is rushing effectively, and getting the USF transfer operating smoothly will be paramount to the success of Joel Gordon’s unit on Saturday.

Brown has also passed quite well as of late, as after a seven-interception start to the season, the senior is now on a four-game interception-free streak in his matchups against Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss and Arkansas while passing for a total of 1,740 yards and 11 touchdowns through this point in the season.

Offense is only half the battle, though, and though DJ Durkin’s defensive unit has struggled with both injuries and execution, the Tigers’ defense has still shown flashes of incredible dominance, a factor that Lebby isn’t taking lightly.

“The two things that jump out [are] how they’ve taken the ball away and the negative plays they’ve created,” Lebby said. “There’s a ton of variation on tape, so we’ve got to do a great job of preparing for all of it, and then being able to go adjust and play clean football as we get into the game.”

Especially without quarterback Kamario Taylor, the Bulldogs may have a difficult time matching up against the Tigers’ defense, as backup quarterback AJ Swann has played in just two games, totaling 390 passing yards, -15 rushing yards, two passing touchdowns and an interception.

However, the Tigers have struggled against strong running backs, and Fluff Bothwell is exactly that– he’s rushed for 613 yards and three touchdowns this season, so winning this game may come down to the Tigers’ presence in the trenches. 

The Tigers and Bulldogs are scheduled to kick off in Starkville at 11:00 a.m. CT this Saturday in a matchup that is set to be broadcast on ESPN2.