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NOTE: CollegeFootballPoll.com's Dave Congrove is a nominating member for the Outland Trophy, presented by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. The Outland Trophy is considered to be the Heisman equivalant for those who strive to be the nation’s best interior lineman on offense or defense. Semifinalists for the 2019 Outland Trophy will be announced on Wed., Nov. 20 and the three finalists will be revealed on Tues., Nov. 26.
Mississippi State (3-1) at Auburn (4-0), 7 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN: Our weekly Outland Trophy sojourn takes us to Auburn, Ala., and perhaps the best of this week’s primetime matchups. The primary matchup to watch is Mississippi State center Darryl Williams going up against Auburn defensive tackle Derrick Brown on most plays, while also watching Auburn left tackle Prince Tega Wanogho help protect freshman quarterback Bo Nix, who is also off to an eye-catching start.
Brown (#5, Sugar Hill, Ga.) has posted fierce numbers to start the season and is coming off his best game. In last week’s 28-20 win at Texas A&M, the senior posted three tackles for loss, two sacks, two pass breakups, a forced fumble and four tackles. The two sacks and three tackles for loss were single-game career highs. Brown is first Auburn player since 2012 to record a sack, tackle for loss, forced fumble and pass breakup in one game, and earned this week’s SEC’s Defensive Lineman of the Week award.
Auburn held Texas A&M to 56 rushing yards, and Brown’s play has been a key for an Auburn defense that has blossomed since defensive coordinator Kevin Steele took over for the 2016 season. The Tigers have held three of their first four opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing (90 by Oregon; 92 by Kent State, 56 by Texas A&M), and have held 15 of 44 opponents below the century mark under Steele.
Brown, one of Auburn’s captains as well as a Bronko Naguski Trophy Watch List member as the nation’s top defensive player, is second on the team with 4.0 tackles for loss and second with 2.0 sacks for a defense that is second in the SEC in rushing defense (89.5 yards per game). He is tied for the team lead in PBU’s, having batted down three passes at the line, and has 125 career tackles going into Saturday, one of five current Tigers to have more than 100 career tackles.
On the offensive side for Auburn is Prince Tega Wanogho (#76, Delta State, Nigeria; pronounced TAY-ga wah-NO-go). The senior left tackle has been a factor in the fast start for Nix, the first true freshman to start an Auburn season opener at quarterback since Travis Tidwell in 1946, and the first SEC true freshman quarterback to start a season opener since Tennessee’s Brent Schaeffer in 2004. Nix’s passing numbers have been eye-catching but the Tigers lead the SEC in rushing (295.5 yards per game) as well. Against Kent State, Auburn had three players with 100-plus rushing yards for the first time since 1983.
Facing up against Brown is senior center Darryl Williams (#73, Bessemer, Ala.), who is in the middle of a Bulldogs offensive line that has only given up one sack this season. Williams shared the SEC’s Offensive Lineman of the Week honor for his play Sept. 7 against Southern Miss. Williams, a team captain, has 25 starts at left guard in his career and was the No. 5 overall graded guard in the SEC by Pro Football Focus last season. He made the switch to center for 2019 and has started each game there. Williams is credited with allowing just one sack since the start of the 2017 season.
Like Wanogho, Wililams’ play and presence up front was an assist to his team’s freshman quarterback. Garrett Shrader made his first start last week in a 28-13 win over Kentucky and accounted for 305 yards of total offense, rushing for 125 yards and going 17-of-22 passing for 180 yards to earn the SEC’s Freshman of the Week. He has also directed MSU’s running game on the field, where Kylin Hill has an SEC-best 551 yards (6.1 yards per carry) and five touchdowns. Hill leads or is tied for the SEC lead in nine different categories and is top five in the FBS in six. MSU and Ohio State are the only teams in the Power 5 to rush for 200-plus yards in four games this season.
Iowa State (2-1) at Baylor (3-0), 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN: We go to Waco, Texas, for our first look – and perhaps even the country’s first real look – at an undefeated Baylor team that is facing its first Power 5 opponent as it opens its Big 12 schedule. Our eyes are on James Lynch(#93, Round Rock, Texas), who is listed on the roster as a defensive tackle but has started the Bears’ first three games at defensive end. The junior is coming off a 21-13 win at Rice in which he had a career-high 2.0 sacks for 15 yards along with two solo tackles. Lynch has a career total of 17.5 tack-les for loss and 11.5 sacks that lead the current roster; his next half-sack will place him in the top 10 among Baylor’s all-time career sacks leaders.
Through three games, the Bears have held opponents to 10 first-half points and an average of 261.7 yards per game (10th nationally), paced by the country’s ninth-best pass defense giving up only 146.0 ypg.
For Iowa State, we look again at Ray Lima (#58, Los Angeles, Calif.), a two-year captain, three-year starter and a two-time All-Big 12 selection who is also on the Bronko Naguski Trophy Watch List. Lima (Lee-muh) has 66 tackles and 8.5 tackles for loss in his career, including four tackles against Northern Iowa in ISU’s season-opening overtime win. He saw only limited action last week in ISU’s 72-20 win over ULM.