Mississippi State, Auburn play with division hopes on the line

The season will be on the line for both teams Saturday when Mississippi State travels to Auburn. Both schools have started league play with a loss and the two-game hole will likely be too much to overcome in the rugged SEC West. 

According to the Clarion Ledger, Dan Mullen didn't back away from the importance of this game for both teams. 

"Both of us are coming off a loss in conference," Mullen said. "You don't want to fall that far behind. So we both, in conference play, are back against the wall."

His quarterback echoed those statements this week. 

"Everybody in the SEC might end up with a loss, so that one to LSU we can put that behind us," Dak Prescott said. "…But losing two, that puts you down. It puts you at the bottom when you're working trying to get to the top. If we can even this record out in the SEC, 1-1, we'll be in the right position."

After being run over by Leonard Fournette and LSU, Auburn appears to be close to hitting the panic button. Gus Malzahn announced the decision to bench quarterback Jeremy Johnson Tuesday. The Tigers will look to redshirt Sean White to spark their inept offense against the Bulldogs. 

Saturday night will leave one team looking ahead to 2016 and another back on the path to the West title. 

"It's either going to propel us or really set the tone of the season," Prescott said. "I said LSU was going to do that, but we still have everything in front of us. This game, really does that."

(h/t Clarion Ledger)