AU-MISS ST: Tigers wake up late to beat Bulldogs
By TIM GAYLE
Locked in a defensive struggle entering the fourth quarter, one big play would decide the Auburn-Mississippi State game on Saturday night.
Four field goals had been the only scoring through three quarters when Auburn quarterback Bo Nix floated a pass down the right sideline and Seth Williams gathered it in for a 32-yard scoring reception to cap a 95-yard scoring drive and give the visiting Tigers a 16-10 lead.
Mississippi State scored its only touchdown minutes later but Auburn responded with another scoring drive for a 24-10 victory to assure the Tigers of a winning season.
“I just told our team how proud that I am of those guys for the sacrifice they made to be able to play 10 SEC games,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “With the sacrifice they’ve made to play, I can't say enough great things about our players. Our team has great character, and yet we have a majority of those guys back, so I’m really excited about that.”
Auburn (6-4) will now wait to learn its postseason destination after becoming one of six teams in the conference to finish with a winning record against an unprecedented conference-only schedule.
“I want to give them about two weeks off to do nothing but relax their mind and body,” Malzahn said. “It’s been a physical, mental and emotional grind. Our coaches, they need a break too. We’re going to relax and we’re going to get ourselves refreshed, and then we’ll cross that bridge when the next step happens.”
Mississippi State (2-7) closes out the regular season at home next week against Missouri, still entertaining the possibility of a bowl bid.
“It’s kind of a moving target,” Mississippi State coach Mike Leach said. “I don't know the details on it. I don't know that it’s been decided yet with regards to that. If we have a chance to play another game, no matter what form it comes in, I’d be thrilled to do it because it’d be a great opportunity for our team to work and continue to build.”
The Bulldogs, as they have all season, struggled to put together any type of running attack, making them one dimensional and making quarterback Will Rogers a target for the Auburn defense.
“I thought Auburn has a good defense and they have most of the year,” Leach said. “I thought we missed some opportunities. I thought that we had some self-inflicted wounds. It's almost like the worst thing happened at the worst time type of things. Nobody really thought when we started this season that we'd play Auburn nearly this close ... In our case, we’re kind of reeling from the disappointment of not playing as well as we could've this game.”
Mississippi State managed just 19 rushing yards on 16 carries. Auburn tailback Tank Bigsby, by contrast, had 192 yards on 26 carries.
“He runs violently, he breaks tackles, he is very explosive,” Malzahn said. “I don't think he is 100 percent right now and he rushed for almost 200 yards on the road against one of the best statistical defenses in our league, so I think there's a lot of good things going on with him.”
After Williams’ touchdown catch, Lideatrick Griffin returned the ensuing kickoff 65 yards to the Auburn 29-yard line, setting up Rogers’ 8-yard pass to Austin Williams to slice AU’s lead to 16-10. Auburn answered with 6:03 to play when Nix ran for a touchdown, then passed to Ze’Vian Capers for the two-point conversion and a 24-10 lead.