Young quarterbacks will take center stage on Thursday night as No. 21 Auburn visits Mississippi State (7:45 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Auburn’s offense will feature the higher profile quarterback with Cameron Newton. The junior QB was simply brilliant last week throwing for three touchdowns and running for two more in a 52-26 beatdown of Arkansas State.
Mississippi State redshirt freshman Tyler Russell also had a standout performance throwing for five TDs in the Bulldogs’ 49-7 thrashing of Memphis.
Auburn is listed as a 1.5-point favorite at SBG Global and the total is set at 56.5. On the moneyline, the Tigers are -120; the Bulldogs are EVEN.
This is the SEC opener for both teams so the quality of play should be much higher than it was last week. Arkansas State and Memphis are not considered top tier teams so it is hard to know who had the better performance last week.
Newton, who was named SEC Player of the Week, sure did look unstoppable though, and he could lead Auburn to a big year.
Mississippi State is at home and that could be the Bulldogs’ main advantage in this game. Auburn has really struggled away from home in recent years – the Tigers are 1-8 ATS in their last nine road games. However, that trend could turn this season with Newton at the helm.
Mississippi State has two quarterbacks and both will play on Thursday night. In addition to Russell, junior QB Chris Relf also played well last week completing seven of nine passes for 116 yards and a TD.
Here are some key college football betting stats for Thursday’s game:
Auburn has not been a good team in conference play recently – the Tigers are 5-11 ATS in their last 16 conference games. The Tigers are 1-4 ATS in their last five games on grass. As The Tigers are 6-2 ATS in their last eight meetings against Mississippi State.
The Bulldogs are 5-2 ATS in their last seven conference games. The Bulldogs are 0-5 ATS in their last five Thursday games.
This could be a high-scoring affair when you consider Auburn put up 608 yards of offense last week while Mississippi State recorded 569 yards. The over is 4-0-2 in the Tigers’ last six games overall. The under is 16-7-2 in the Tigers’ last 25 conference games.
The over is 4-1 in the Bulldogs’ last five games overall. The under is 4-1 in the last five meetings between these two teams.
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