Mississippi State Beats Auburn for 2nd Straight Year
Sep 26, 2015; Auburn, AL, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback Dak Prescott (15) passing against the Auburn Tigers during the first quarter at Jordan Hare Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Mississippi State entered the Plains at Jordan Hare Stadium with a chance to beat the Tigers for the second straight year. The last time Mississippi State accomplished that feat was in 1999 and 2000.
Mission accomplished.
The game got off to a difficult start for Mississippi State. Auburn took the opening kickoff inside the goal line under the guidance of redshirt freshman Sean White. But a freshman mistake by the new signal caller for Auburn would end the drive. Scrambling under pressure, White threw the ball over the middle of the field and was intercepted by Will Redmond.
From there, it was mostly Mississippi State’s game to lose. The final was 17-9. Even though Auburn was never out of reach, it never felt like the Bulldogs were really threatened either.
The difference in the game was the ability to score inside the redzone. Both teams put up a lot of yards, but Auburn could not do much of anything once inside the 20 yard line of Mississippi State. Their first possession inside the 20 ended with the Redmond interception. The second one ended in a missed field goal attempt. This allowed the Bulldogs to take a 14-0 lead into the locker at half time.
The redzone woes for Auburn would continue into the second half. They could only muster two red zone field goals, and another 51 yarder late in the fourth quarter. Westin Graves would also kick a 44 yard field goal that pushed the lead to 17-6 before Auburn’s last field goal and that would finish the scoring for both teams.
Dak Prescott continues to throw the ball at a high level. He completed 29 of 41 attempts for 270 and the only two touchdowns in the game. He has now completed 95 of 142 attempts (66.9%) and thrown 7 touchdowns with no interceptions on the year. He has also passed for 1,069 yards.
Meanwhile, the running game continues to struggle. The Bulldogs only ran for 62 yards on the day, and it kept Auburn in the game late in the fourth quarter. When Mississippi State was needing to keep the ball on the ground to burn the game clock, they simply couldn’t so it.
The one bright side to the running game was Brandon Holloway. He continues to make teams pay whenever he gets touches, limited as they may be. Holloway had 5 carries for 42 yards. Shumpert continued to struggle with 5 yards on 5 carries. Dan Mullen may be forced to make a change at the running back position.
The defense was a mixed bag. They gave up a lot of yards but only 9 points. Auburn accumulated 392 yards but only had 9 points to show for it.
The win brings the Bulldogs to 3-1 and 1-1 in SEC play. The loss drops the Tigers to 2-2 and 0-2 in the SEC. Mississippi State will head to College Station to play Texas A&M who moved to 4-0 and 1-0 after a win over Arkansas.