STARKVILLE — Keith Mixon wasn’t sure he was going to be able to stay inbounds.
Auburn defensive back Stephen Roberts tried to jump the route, but he couldn’t intercept or deflect the pass from quarterback Nick Fitzgerald.
That left the Mississippi State redshirt freshman wide receiver time to turn his head, to catch the football, and to look down to see where his feet were.
“I actually thought I was out of bounds,” Mixon said of the out route. “I caught my balance and took off.”
Mixon took the pass 37 yards for his first career touchdown in MSU’s 38-14 loss to Auburn on Saturday afternoon at Davis Wade Stadium.
The touchdown came with 3 minutes, 52 seconds left in the third quarter and cut the deficit to 35-7.
“It was a great play call by (MSU football) coach (Dan) Mullen,” Mixon said. “The high safety, Jamal Couch set a good pick. Nick got back shoulder and I just made a play. The defensive back made a cut and he missed the ball and I caught it.”
The Birmingham, Alabama, native had two catches for a team-high 55 yards, which also was a career high. Couch had career-long 23-yard reception in the fourth quarter.
Mixon entered the game with four catches for 1 yard. He made two catches for 4 yards against South Alabama, one catch for no yards against LSU, and one catch for minus-3 yards against Massachusetts.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Nick Tiano made his collegiate debut on the final possession. He fumbled the ball on a handoff, but he recovered it. He completed a 5-yard pass to tight end Jordan Thomas as the game ended.
Jiles plays
After missing the first four games with a broken right arm, senior Cedric Jiles started at cornerback.
“He’s worked his butt off to get himself in shape to get ready to go,” Mullen said of Jiles, who suffered his injury two weeks before the season started. “He’s only been cleared for a short period of time. For a guy like him, he’s just fired up to be back out there.”
The Clinton native recorded one tackle. Jiles and senior Tolando Cleveland were expected to be the Bulldogs’ starting cornerbacks. Cleveland is out for the year with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
Senior defensive lineman Will Coleman (lower back) didn’t dress after practicing this week.
Ross’ numbers
Senior wide receiver Fred Ross caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Fitzgerald in the fourth quarter to give him 15 for his career.
He is alone in fifth place for most in school history. He is two shy of Eric Moulds (1993-95) and Justin Jenkins (2000-03) for third most in school history with 17.
The Tyler, Texas, native had four catches for 29 yards, giving him a catch in 27-straight games, which is the longest streak in the Southeastern Conference. He became the sixth player to top the 1,900 yard receiving mark (1,928). Jenkins is fifth with 1,974.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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