Auburn Football: Cowbells and Bulldog Victories Denied

The Auburn Tigers exacted revenge on Mississippi State demolishing the dogs 56-23. With a 33 point lead at halftime the Tigers silenced cowbells across the nation.

You could say this game was close at kickoff when the score was 0-0, but even then it was already out of control for the Bulldogs. On their first play of the game the Bulldogs were called for delay of game. Two plays later their starting QB Tommy Stevens was sacked for a 16 yard loss by Jeremiah Dinson, and if 4th and 24 at your own 11 isn’t already terrible, the Bulldogs were called for another delay of game to make the punt scenario 4th and 29.

Nine seconds later Auburn scored with a 30 yard run by Boobee Whitlow. The only Bulldog to touch him was Mississippi State’s live mascot Bully. I’m not even kidding, check this out.

I’m a huge dog lover and was glad to see Bully immediately rebound and launch into attack mode. The dog is fine but probably never wants to travel to Jordan Hare again and I completely understand. You’re a good doggo, Bully.

On the next drive for Mississippi State the Tiger defense was relentless in their pursuit for the ball. On 3rd and 13 Jeremiah Dinson was once again in the backfield to greet Stevens and was assisted by freshman stud Owen Pappoe in his take down. Stevens sustained a lower body injury on the play and did not return to action.

In the next two minutes the score went from 7-0 to 21-0 thanks in part to a Mississippi State fumble on a kickoff return.

Freshman QB Garrett Shrader then stepped up in the place of Tommy Stevens and scored the Bulldogs’ first touchdown with 6:39 left in the first quarter.

Auburn Football: Sizing Up the Mississippi State Bulldogs

Then the Tigers scored again, and again, and as both teams ran off the field at halftime the scoreboard showed a 33 point deficit for the Bulldogs. Auburn, a team that could only muster up three field goals against Mississippi State last season, had now hung 42 points on them.

It didn’t stop there either. Auburn came out of halftime and scored two more times before Gus gave the second string offense reps at the beginning of the 4th quarter. The second string defense took the field too and despite being up by more than 30 points Kevin Steele never stopped coaching. Malzahn didn’t either.

When the officials did not call a flag on a brutal hit by State LB Erroll Thompson on Seth Williams, Malzahn had a field day.

Here was Malzahn’s reaction:

Here was the hit:

A mad man coaching his tail off and sticking up for all of his men on the field. It was a highlight night for Malzahn as the offense efficiently hung 56 points in 69 plays. Bo Nix threw 16/21 passes for 335 yards. His timing and long ball looked wonderful yesterday as he connected to Seth Williams for two touchdowns. The run game we prayed for just weeks ago has finally arrived as the Tigers amassed six TDs and 217 yards on the ground.

If you don’t think Auburn is hot right now, you’re wrong. The Tigers are scalding with the heaviest part of their schedule right in front of them. Their remaining schedule includes trips to Florida and LSU, and home games against Georgia and Alabama. It won’t be easy but they’re poised to create chaos as long as they keep playing and improving on the level they’re at now.

The 7th ranked Tigers travel to The Swamp this weekend for a top ten match up against number 10 Florida.