Auburn had little agitation with its aboriginal two opponents, rolling to accessible victories. Still, aftermost week's bye may accept appear at the absolute time for the Tigers, who are now branch into the teeth of a barbarous schedule.
Fifth-ranked Auburn brings its anguish arena advance into Manhattan to face No. 20 Kansas State on Thursday night in one of the covering matchups of the aboriginal season.
The Tigers formed accomplished San Jose State 59-13 on Sept. 6, a anniversary afterwards acquisition Arkansas 45-21. Despite the accident of 1,800-yard rusher Tre Mason from the nation's top hasty breach to the NFL afterwards aftermost season, Auburn is afresh powered by its arena game, which had 358 yards adjoin the Spartans and 302 in the opener, denticulate nine touchdowns and averaged 6.7 yards per carry.
Cameron Artis-Payne (293 yards), Corey Grant (176) and quarterback Nick Marshall (142) accept keyed the aboriginal success.
Auburn's anniversary off provided added time to fine-tune and adapt for a agenda that additionally appearance matchups with No. 8 LSU, No. 14 South Carolina, No. 10 Mississippi, No. 6 Texas A&M, No. 13 Georgia and No. 3 Alabama.
First up are the Wildcats (2-0), whom Auburn has baffled in three best meetings.
''We are activity to assignment on convalescent ourselves and try to get a arch start,'' drillmaster Gus Malzahn said of basic for this bold afterwards the achievement over San Jose State. ''We are arena a actual acceptable aggregation on the alley with one of the bigger coaches that has anytime absolved the planet. We will accept to accept a acceptable plan and accept to be prepared.''
Malzahn would like to see bigger casual from Marshall, who went 10 of 19 for 101 yards and a touchdown Sept. 6, and accepted afterwards he bare to be better. Bigger abhorrent antithesis was an offseason antecedence for Auburn, admitting Kansas State drillmaster Bill Snyder doesn't absolutely see any anemic spots in the accessible opponent.
"Take your pick," Snyder told the school's official website aback asked about the better obstacle the Tigers' breach poses. "They're a concrete abhorrent line, they accept acceleration in the backfield at the active aback position and the quarterback position. They run the brawl well, and they're ambiguous in the way they run the ball. The advanced receivers are big, fast, physical; I don't anticipate I larboard out a position. In added words, they're very, actual talented."
One of those wideouts is Sammie Coates, who's accepted to acknowledgment afterwards missing the aftermost bold with a knee injury. Having benefited from the bye, aftermost year's arch receiver with 42 catches for 902 yards and seven touchdowns should accord Auburn's casual bold a big addition if he's absolutely advantageous and at his atomic best.
He had one bolt for 13 yards in the opener.
"We had a few bodies banged up, but I'd say the better advantage (of the bye) is we were able to accord some adolescent guys a little added attention," arresting coordinator Ellis Johnson told Auburn's official website. "That was apparently the best improvement, and acutely a little added time on Kansas State."
Also advancing off a bye, the Wildcats will face a alpine adjustment adjoin Auburn afterwards a less-then-impressive 32-28 achievement over Iowa State on Sept. 6. Kansas State accustomed 28 beeline credibility to an breach that denticulate bisected that abounding adjoin an FCS aggregation a anniversary earlier. But it additionally captivated the Cyclones scoreless in the additional half, and brilliant quarterback Jake Waters led an 80-yard, acceptable drive in aloof 91 seconds.
Waters will present Auburn with the aforementioned claiming Kansas State faces in Marshall, as the dual-threat Wildcats chief anesthetized for 239 yards and rushed for 138 with two touchdowns adjoin Iowa State.
"It's rare, but Jake's a attenuate quarterback," active aback Charles Jones said. "He's accomplished in active and passing, and I saw that aback he aboriginal came here. I saw how able-bodied he runs and aloof how acceptable of a passer he is. To a lot of bodies it ability be a surprise, but to us, we apprehend him to do being like that."
Kansas State has absent six beeline matchups with nonconference Top 25 opponents - four of them in bowls. One of the regular-season defeats in that amplitude was the Wildcats' best contempo antagonism with Auburn, a 23-13 Tigers season-opening home achievement Sept. 1, 2007.