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College football Week 5: 5 games worth canceling date night for

By Patrick Schmidt

BLACKSBURG, VA - SEPTEMBER 23: Quarterback Josh Jackson #17 of the Virginia Tech Hokies throws against the Old Dominion University Monarchs in the first half at Lane Stadium on September 23, 2017 in Blacksburg, Virginia. (Photo by Michael Shroyer/Getty Images)
BLACKSBURG, VA - SEPTEMBER 23: Quarterback Josh Jackson #17 of the Virginia Tech Hokies throws against the Old Dominion University Monarchs in the first half at Lane Stadium on September 23, 2017 in Blacksburg, Virginia. (Photo by Michael Shroyer/Getty Images) /
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Auburn
COLUMBIA, MO – SEPTEMBER 23: Quarterback Jarrett Stidham #8 of the Auburn Tigers looks to pass during the game against the Missouri Tigers at Faurot Field/Memorial Stadium on September 23, 2017 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

3. Mississippi State at Auburn – 6:00 p.m. EST – ESPN

One week after a surprising 37-7 win over LSU, Mississippi State suffered an equally surprising loss as they fell 31-3 to Georgia. This was a wake-up call for Dan Mullen and his Bulldogs who will have to play much better in this SEC West game against Auburn. The player to watch on Mississippi State is quarterback Nick Fitzgerald. The dual-threat quarterback has received comparisons to Dak Prescott for the last year-plus, but he laid an egg last week, completing 48.3 percent of his passes for 83 yards. I don’t expect a second straight poor performance from Fitzgerald and this game should feature both team’s quarterbacks in the spotlight.

Auburn’s Jarrett Stidham has done well when he’s been given time to throw. That wasn’t the case in Auburn’s loss to Clemson when he was sacked 11 times. When given time to stand in the pocket and make his reads, Stidham has been more than capable of moving the chains. Auburn would still like more big plays resulting in touchdowns, but a nice blend of the run and the pass can keep opposing defenses on their toes.

Both teams like to run to set up the pass so I expect this game to start a little slow and be a low-scoring affair into the second half when the teams will open up the playbook a bit and pick their moments to take their shots downfield and to try to make a momentum-shifting type of play. These two teams have played close games in their series rivalry in recent years and I expect that to continue on Saturday night.

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