Auburn-Mississippi State: Bulldogs run through struggling Tigers

That’s it, folks. Mississippi State ran for 353 yards and knocked off the No. 8 Auburn football team, 23-9, on Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium.

Auburn falls to 4-2 overall and 1-2 in the SEC and Mississippi State improved to 4-2 and 1-2.

Here’s a recap of how the game played out:

Auburn-Mississippi State recap, final score

Fourth quarter

It’s a wrap in Starkville. That was ugly.

• A fumble through the end zone that negated a touchdown.
• A Mississippi State fourth-down play that was ruled a touchdown that was stopped short of the goal line.
• Stidham missed a WIDE OPEN Darius Slayton on a flea-flicker in the first half that was an on-the-platter TD.

This team has work to do. Lots of it. The goals at this point have to change.

Mississippi State 23, Auburn 9: With the defense on its heels, Fitzgerald sprints in from 21 and this one is pretty much over, people.

Mississippi State 16, Auburn 9: Another good drive, another stall in the red zone. Auburn gets to the 7, but throws three consecutive incompletions. Slayton nearly had the first down play for a TD but had it knocked out of his hands at the last second. Carlson connects from 24. (4Q, 11:24)

Third quarter

Auburn continues getting the short end of the stick by calls. Whitlow appeared to have scored from 41 yards out, but lost the ball around the goal line. Officials ruled it a touchback after Mississippi State recovered in the end zone. Replays were not conclusive enough to overturn. It was another good Auburn drive that looked like points. Now, we go to the final quarter with the Bulldogs driving, the Auburn defense winded and the Tigers down by 10.

Mississippi State 16, Auburn 6: Auburn answers, quickly. A long pass from Stidham to Ryan Young, a first-down run by Whitlow, but then the drive stalled as Whitlow was held to no gain on first down, Stidham overthrew Slayton by a mile in the end zone and a third-down play (again) failed. Carlson kicks it through. That’s the good. The bad is that Auburn took just a minute or so off the clock. Now the defense, winded from that last long MSU drive, needs to a quick stop to get Auburn back the ball. (3Q, 5:45)

Mississippi State 16, Auburn 3: Run, run and run some more. That’s exactly what State did and the 13-play, 60-yard drive ate up 8:05 off the clock on the first drive of the half. Auburn has to do something on this drive. The time of possession favors MSU, 28:19 to 9:46. Wow. (3Q, 6:55)

Halftime

Some halftime stats for your amusement:

Total yards: Auburn 79, MSU 192

Third downs: Auburn 0-6, MSU 3-9

Rushing yards: Auburn 13-41, MSU 27-149

Passing: Auburn 6-10-0 38, MSU 5-11-1 43

Penalties: Auburn 1-5, MSU 0-0

Total offensive plays: Auburn 23, MSU 38

Time of possession: Auburn 9:46, MSU 20:14

All that points to a 10-point Bulldog lead at the break.

Big play not in the box score: Jarrett Stidham overthrew Darius Slayton by 4-5 yards when Slayton was 20-plus yards in the clear on a for-sure touchdown. It was a well-designed play, Stidham simply failed to execute the throw.

Second quarter

Mississippi State 13, Auburn 3: Well, there you have it. Fitzgerald squeezes in from the 1 (officially) on the final play of the half. But he was not in the end zone. That was pretty clear. Just not clear enough to overturn the TD call, which probably never should have been made to begin with. If it’s ruled a turnover on downs, it stands that way, too.

Worse news for Auburn: State gets the second-half kickoff.

Mississippi State 6, Auburn 3: After Carlson missed a 49-yarder way to the left, Jace Christmann hits a career-long 47-yard field goal to give the Bulldogs their first lead. (2Q, 10:13)

First quarter

End of quarter. Auburn has fourth-and-half a yard at the Mississippi State 35. Will the Tigers go for it or try another 50-plus yard FG from Carlson?

Auburn 3, Mississippi State 3: The Bulldogs put together a nice drive — all on the ground — and the Auburn defense stiffens in the red zone. A short field goal evens the score. (1Q, 2:37)

Auburn 3-0. Gus shows zero confidence in his offense picking up fourth-and-inches, but shows plenty of confidence in Anders Carlson, who splits the uprights from 48 yards to give Auburn the lead. The drive was set up by a Jeremiah Dinson interception in Mississippi State territory. Auburn is struggling to run the ball, as expected. (1Q, 7:30)

Pre-game

– So here’s your offensive line starting lineup change:

– So no Bailey Sharp or Austin Troxell or Calvin Ashley in the first-team offensive line grouping during warmups. I have to say, based on history and how Gus has handled injury news, I didn’t expect either of those guys to be playing tonight.

– Both injured tackles are dressed and participating in drills. Starting/playing status: Not yet known:

– Whitlow is wearing pads, going through pre-game drills and a number change on the team, via The Plainsman’s Nathan King:

– All eyes are on left tackle Prince Tega Wanogho and right tackle Jack Driscoll as well as running back JaTarvious “Boobee” Whitlow. All three made the trip to Starkville, all three apparently looked healthy during Tiger Walk and all three are walking around find on the field before putting on pads.

What does that mean?

Maybe nothing. Whitlow’s injury appeared to be a left arm or shoulder, so he should be walking around fine. The two tackles, those were lower body injuries. So we’ll see. We’ll have updates as soon as they’re available.

Auburn-Mississippi State game time, information

When: Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018
Game time: 7:30 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN2
Where: Davis Wade Stadium, Starkville, Miss.
Line: Auburn (-4.0)
Weather report: Kickoff temperature should be around 79 degrees and there’s 0 percent chance of rain.

Auburn-Mississippi State preview

1. You want defense, you’re going to get it. Auburn enters the game with the No. 3 scoring defense in the country (12.6 points allowed per game) and Mississippi State is eighth with 13.4. On top of that, the Bulldogs are 11th in total defense (286.8 yards per game allowed) and the Tigers at 16th with 304.6.

2. On the flip side of that, neither offense — despite returning elite QBs in Jarrett Stidham and Nick Fitzgerald — are lighting up the scoreboard. Fittingly, the two teams are tied for 54th in scoring offense (32.6 points per game) and the Bulldogs are 52nd in total offense (433.2) and Auburn is 95th (376.2).

Additional Auburn football preview content

– Final thoughts: Who really knows what to expect from Auburn … or Bulldogs?
– Three bold predictions for Auburn tonight
– Week 6 staff predictions
– If Auburn should win, why all the worry?
– You think this offense is bad, it could get worse. Just ask 2008.