It's lunch time, and even on Labor Day that means it's time for some links. I'm going to do something on Mondays where I go back to the weekend to pull some game links for Auburn's opponent. So here we go with some Mississippi State stories:

• The Bulldogs looked good in their season opener, a 45-7 drubbing of Jackson State in Starkville. Although honestly, I'd expect nothing less against a team from the SWAC.

• Looking for a good blog about Mississippi State? We like Kyle Veazey's of the Clarion-Ledger. Back in July, he did a Q&A for us here at the War Eagle Extra.

• Mississippi State will continue to use two quarterbacks, Tyson Lee and Chris Relf, writes Veazey. Relf had three touchdowns passes to go with 82 rushing yards and another score in last week's win. Lee threw for 92 yards but didn't play in the second half because of shoulder problems. (Note: he'll be fine this week.) I'm not sure how different the Bulldogs' offense is when either one is in the game, but it should at least give Auburn something else to think about come Saturday.

• Columnist Rick Cleveland writes that Mississippi State took some time to get rolling in head coach Dan Mullen's debut, which was marred by first-half penalties and sloppiness. Sound familiar, Auburn fans?

• Veazey blogged some talking points after the game. It includes a nugget on running back Anthony Dixon, who was suspended for the opener following his DUI arrest this summer. He'll be back in the game plan Saturday against Auburn. It will be interesting to see if head coach Dan Mullen eases him back in or throws him right into the fire. I'd imagine it would be the latter. It's tough to keep your best running back, one with 2,600 career rushing yards, on the sideline in an SEC game.

• Fifth-year senior linebacker Jamar Chaney is back in action after missing almost all of last year because of an ankle injury.

And a few other links to keep you busy on this holiday weekend ...

• ESPN.com's Chris Low recaps the weekend that was in the SEC. He also gives Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn a helmet sticker, although I've never seen, or can imagine, Malzahn in a helmet. We'll call it a visor sticker.

• Alabama's defense appears to be the same difference-making unit it was last year, writes Michael Casagrande of the Decatur Daily.

• Bad news for Georgia: left tackle Trinton Sturdivant is out for the year with a torn ACL, writes David Hale of the Macon Telegraph. It's the same knee injury that caused him to miss all of last year. You've got to feel for someone like that.

• This seems a bit premature, but ESPN already has bowl projections out. Both Mark Schlabach and Bruce Feldman have Auburn in the Independence Bowl (check that, the AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl) against either Texas A&M or Colorado. We think we'll give it a little more than one week before we start making bowl declarations.

• As a newspaperman, I think this is kind of cool.

• Good news for Auburn fans. Week 3 opponent West Virginia didn't look all so hot in its opener, a 33-20 victory against Liberty, a Football Championship Subdivision school. Mike Casazza of the Charleston Daily Mail writes about the Mountaineers' woes here. Here's a Liberty perspective from Chris Lang of the Lynchburg News & Advance, my former employer.

• Oh, it wasn't a great weekend for Week 4 opponent Ball State, which lost at home to North Texas. That's the same North Texas that went 1-11 last year. Seems like Brady Hoke knew what was up when he bolted from Muncie at the first job opportunity that came up last offseason.

• Not a great time for a coach on my former beat. Al Groh's Virginia Cavaliers got upset by FCS William & Mary, writes Doug Doughty of the Roanoke Times. Al's worked his way out of a lot of sticky situations with his job, but it's going to be hard this time.
  

• And finally, SI.com's Stewart Mandel gives a nice recap of the college football weekend.

• I'll be back with an Auburn update tonight after practice.