Justin Lee is in his second year of covering Auburn for The Opelika-Auburn News.

Lee spoke to The Dispatch this week ahead of Mississippi State’s upcoming matchup with the Tigers Saturday to discuss Gus Malzahn, freshman quarterback Bo Nix and more.

Q: There probably wasn’t an SEC coach with a hotter seat at the start of the year than Gus Malzahn. He seems to have nipped the noise for now. How impressive is this early success considering how much pressure he was under to start the year?

A: It’s hard to discern where the bark is and where the bite is with all that talk, to be honest with you, but he certainly felt the need to revamp what he’s doing and take back the driver’s seat on play-calling after last year’s lackluster season. I’d say it’s pretty impressive for a few reasons, including the fact that he had to replace a quarterback and a middle linebacker among so many other key positions, and new faces have plugged right in and the team has grown. Where some might have thought the wheels were going to fall off, the program has still trended upward, to at least some certain degree, despite all the talk.

Q: Freshman quarterback Bo Nix doesn’t have eye-popping numbers, but the intangibles have looked great from the outside. Joe Moorhead said in his press conference Monday he recruited Nix when Moorhead was at Penn State and said he’s been impressed with Nix going back to his high school days. What’s been your impression of the young signal caller?

A: It’s impressive to me that he’s the same dynamic playmaker that he was in high school. You’re never certain if the impact a player has on the game is going to translate to the next level, but for him, it has. He’s still quick, even against college defenders, and even more impressive, he’s still a quick thinker, even on the big stage. The numbers will come from consistency, which will come if he keeps getting better. For now, Auburn’s excited to have a gunslinger and an attack-mode quarterback back behind center for the first time in a while.

Q: Despite Mississippi State running for nearly 400 yards in last year’s 23-9 victory over the Tigers, the 2019 Auburn front seven looks loaded with Derrick Brown and K.J. Britt leading the charge. That said, MSU boasts one of the best running backs in the SEC in Kylin Hill. What do you make of that matchup?

A: It’ll be fun. Auburn’s defensive line is nasty. At linebacker, Auburn replaced an experienced, sharp, all-senior group that led the defense last season, but the Tigers did so with new linebackers who were even more highly touted coming out of high school and, if the analysis holds, have an even better upside athletically. Auburn’s second in the SEC in rush defense and the Tigers held Texas A&M to just 56 rushing yards so I do expect them to give Hill a challenge.

Q: Since the hot start, have expectations changed for this team moving forward? Would a loss to the Bulldogs be considered a massive disappointment to the fanbase?

A: It would be a let-down, for sure. Simply put, Auburn fans expect Auburn to beat Mississippi State, especially at home. Earlier in the season, Auburn fans were disappointed with the team beating Tulane by only 18, despite the warnings from the coaches and the media saying that Tulane has a quality team this year. Auburn covered the Las Vegas spread that game, and Tulane has gone on to prove it’s a pretty good team, but fans will be fans. They see Tulane as the team it historically is, and they see Mississippi State as a team that Auburn beats more often than not, historically. That said, I think any fanbase would be upset if its seventh-ranked team lost to an unranked team, to be fair.

Q: What’s been the biggest surprise to you about Auburn so far this season?

A: It’s the play of Bo Nix. We knew he’d be good eventually. He was stellar in high school. I didn’t know he’d be this good so soon.

Q: Along those lines, what’s been Auburn’s biggest weakness four games in?

A: I’m unsure how Auburn’s running game will fare against great defenses, and I’m unsure of how its pass defense will fare against great quarterbacks. But for now I’d say the team’s biggest weakness might be how reliant it would have to be on a freshman in Nix if things go south and the team finds itself far behind. To beat Auburn, the best way to get that done may be to start hot and get on top of the Tigers early. Nix charged Auburn back against Oregon. You wonder how much magic he has in his fingertips, or just how many times out of 10 he’d be able to do that.

Q: Give us a key to an Auburn victory.

A: If the Tigers can start strong and get rolling early, they’re a hard team to beat at home. That’s been proven for as long as Malzahn’s been at Auburn. My biggest key for Auburn would be to avoid early mistakes and get that crowd roaring behind the team early.

Hodge is the former sports editor for The Dispatch.