Important Things to Know from Gus Malzahn's Tuesday Press Conference

Last year’s loss to Mississippi State has loomed over the Auburn football team for almost a year. This was one of the first things Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn discussed at his press conference on Tuesday, “They bottom lined embarrassed us last year,” he said. 

After a big road win against a tough Texas A&M opponent, Auburn has completely “flipped the page,” said Malzahn. This week, the team is focused only on Mississippi State, “all that matters is Mississippi State,” said Malzahn. He also gave an injury update on Derick Hall and Cedric Jackson, who are both recovering well.

Gus Malzahn

--[Mississippi State’s] quarterback can run, he’s a run threat and we also expect them to have some play action passes”

--Defensively, they’re [Mississippi State] leading our league in takeaways, so that’s really what stands out to me.

--Just like last week, there’s probably a good chance we’ll see quite a bit of pressure on our freshman quarterback.

--This is a big game, our guys understand this

--We pride ourselves on winning up front, so we just have to do it.

--Every time we play Mississippi State, it’s a physical game, it’s part of the rivalry, it’s part of playing a good team.

--We beat a good team on the road, that was a big win, but that’s behind us. After our team meeting on Sunday, you can tell it’s behind us, they’ve [the team] already flipped the page.

--We’ll see if he practices today, I know he [Derick Hall] is improving.

--It’s been very beneficial, they’ve [the Auburn defense] played very good football all year. You think back to the Tulane game and offensively we really struggled, but our defense really rose up and allowed us to get to the second half. Characteristics of good teams is that they [offense and defense] complement each other.

--He [Bo Nix] is improving and I think he’ll continue improving. He’s still learning as he goes and he’s got the potential to keep improving and I think he’ll do that.

--There’s nothing like experience that will help you move forward, and we got some leaders that have been there and done that

--Those guys [Auburn linebackers] are playing great, they’re playing with great physicality, they’re tackling well. They have played fantastic so far.

--More than anything I think for a true freshman quarterback, you got to have great relationships, and that you’ve got their backs. I think that’s the number one thing for a young quarterback, just to know that we’re with you.

--We’re Auburn, we need to be successful in running the football.

--He’s [JaTarvious Whitlow] a really good inside the tackle runner, you can tell he’s more comfortable this year than last year, he’s slowing down a little bit and letting the plays develop

--He’s [Cedric Jackson] going to practice today, we’re hoping that we have him this week. We’ll know more Thursday

--The good thing is it gives us flexibility with both those guys [Bo Nix and Joey Gatewood] to be creative later on, both of them we have confidence in.