Jordan Hare Stadium - Auburn, AL
Kickoff: Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET
Line: Auburn -3, Total: 56

Auburn hopes a new starting quarterback can get its team on the right track when Mississippi State pays a visit on Saturday night.

Both teams are trying to avoid falling to a .500 SU record for the young season, with the Bulldogs 2-1 ATS and the Tigers a winless 0-3 ATS. Both schools have LSU to blame for their lone defeat, but while MSU fell 21-19 to those Tigers two weeks ago, Auburn was obliterated by the yellow and purple last week by a 45-21 score. That has prompted head coach Gus Malzahn to bench highly-touted QB Jeremy Johnson and start freshman QB Sean White in his place. These SEC West foes will clash again Saturday with the Bulldogs trying to break the series streak of the home team winning four straight matchups (3-1 ATS). The Tigers hold an 8-3 SU (7-4 ATS) advantage at home in this series since 1993, but it was Mississippi State that prevailed last year 38-23, handing then-No. 2 Auburn its first loss of the season. Both teams committed four turnovers in that sloppy matchup, and miscues will be a big part of this meeting considering the Bulldogs have already committed multiple turnovers twice in 2015 and the Tigers have 2+ TO in all three games this year. While Mississippi State fits the trend of road teams coming off a game of 6.25+ yards per play with 4 or fewer defensive starters returning being 40-14 ATS (74%) when the line is +3 to -3 in the past 10 seasons, but Auburn is 17-6 ATS when coming off a loss of at least three touchdowns since 1992. On the injury front, Bulldogs LB Kelan Chairs is questionable with legal problems, but the remaining roster is intact. The Tigers could be thin on defense with four players all listed as questionable for Saturday -- DB T.J. Davis (knee) and DLs Carl Lawson (hip), Prince Tega Wanogho (leg) and Jaunta'vius Johnson (knee).

Which team will pick up a confidence-boosting victory in this SEC West battle? For the answer, connect to College Football Best Bets for all the StatFox Experts picks throughout the 2015 regular season and bowl season. StatFox Brian is 57% ATS (8-6) in CFB Best Bets to start the season, including a perfect 3-0 on his weekly lock.

Mississippi State has no quarterback controversy to worry about, as senior QB Dak Presecott is one of the finest signal callers in the nation. He has completed 65% of his passes for 799 yards (7.9 YPA), 5 TD and 0 INT this season, while adding 107 yards (4.5 YPC) and 2 TD on the ground. Prescott was unstoppable in last year's meeting with Auburn, throwing for 246 yards and 1 TD while rushing 21 times for 212 yards (5.8 YPC) and two more scores. The only negative was his two interceptions. Prescott has four receivers that have topped 100 yards already with junior WRs De'Runnya Wilson (158) and WR Fred Ross (153) leading the way. Wilson had a team-high 72 yards and a touchdown in last year's win over Auburn. The team's leading rusher is junior RB Ashton Shumpert, who has 123 yards on 4.6 YPC. Defensively, the Bulldogs have been solid in allowing only 50 points over three games. But the secondary was gashed for 311 passing yards in the opener at Southern Miss, and the run-stop unit was steamrolled for 266 rushing yards in the loss to LSU. Mississippi State also needs to make some big plays on defense, having gone two straight games without forcing a turnover.

Auburn QB Jeremy Johnson was erratic in the first three games of the season, throwing for more interceptions (6) than touchdowns (5), which is why the team is turning to the 6-foot-1, 200-pound QB Sean White under center. The Tigers will likely try to establish the run with top RB Peyton Barber to take the pressure off their young signal caller. Although the sophomore Barber has 274 rushing yards on 5.1 YPC this year, he was given just seven carries in last week's blowout. But White has the physical gifts to be a great dual-threat quarterback and he will have to improvise when flushed out of the pocket. While his top target will likely be WR Ricardo Louis (14 catches), he'll need to also utilize sophomore RB Roc Thomas (27.3 yards per catch) and underachieving senior WR D'haquille Williams who has just seven receptions for an 11.6-yard average this year compared to his 45 receptions and 16.2 average from a year ago. Saturday could be his breakout game though, considering Williams caught six passes for 108 yards and 2 TD in Starkville last season. But no matter how well the offense operates, the defense needs to step up in all facets to keep Auburn in this contest. The Tigers have allowed 443 total YPG this season, including 270 rushing YPG on 5.7 YPC. To be fair, they have been on the field 33:17 and really need the offense to sustain drives and stop turning the football over.