AUBURN, Ala. — Dan Mullen felt the need to repeat it again: 10 penalties to one.
In a game where the No. 13 Auburn football team already had an edge in explosive offensive plays, third-down conversion rate and yards per carry, Mississippi State’s football coach came back to the self-inflicted mistakes the No. 24 Bulldogs hurt themselves with in a 49-10 loss Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Of MSU’s 10 penalties, seven of them were false starts. Those penalties helped stifle MSU’s offense and dropped the Bulldogs to 3-2 and 1-2 in the Southeastern Conference.
“We had a bunch of freshmen playing, right?” Mullen said. “When you’re playing two freshman tackles, that doesn’t help.”
Freshman Stewart Reese started at right tackle out of necessity. Freshman Greg Eiland was forced into action after regular starting left tackle Martinas Rankin sprained his ankle early in the game and didn’t return. The MSU offensive line only allowed two sacks and five tackles for a loss — three below Auburn’s average entering the game — but the false starts kept the Bulldogs behind the chains.
“We did everything wrong we needed to do (well) when we come on the road. We did basically everything you can’t do when you try to win on the road,” Mullen said. “We made some critical errors, some mental errors, but that happens when you have a young team.”
‘Momentum killer’
MSU defensive end Montez Sweat was the first man to the ball with no Auburn Tiger in between him and the end zone, so he picked it up and went through the motions of a roughly 30-yard scoring trot.
All of it was wiped away.
The sack and forced fumble by defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons led to the Sweat recovery and return, but an official ruled quarterback Jarrett Stidham was trying to throw the ball at the time of the fumble. Video review showed the play was a fumble, but by rule the return couldn’t be reinstated, so MSU was given the ball at the 31-yard line.
MSU ended the possession with a field goal. The argument could be made the sequence cost MSU four points and a shot at 7-7 tie in the first quarter.
“I can’t control that,” Mullen said. “We had to play Auburn, right? We had to play the crowd and all these other circumstances. That’s the thing, when you have a young team, guys are looking for that edge.”
Simmons called the play a “momentum killer,” but acknowledged “we have to move on from that.” The Bulldogs didn’t. The Tigers scored on their next possession.
Dear, Jung didn’t travel
Already without wide receiver Gabe Myles and defensive lineman Cory Thomas, MSU also traveled to Auburn without wide receiver Malik Dear and linebacker Traver Jung.
Mullen said MSU hopes to get Jung back after the bye week. Dear’s absence was another chapter in the saga that began with his knee injury in the spring. Mullen said Dear had gotten closer to playing this season, even being cleared by the medical staff at one point and leaving the decision to the coaching staff.
Starting linebacker Dez Harris also was injured in the game, but he returned to action.
Offside oddity
MSU was offsides on Auburn’s first two extra point attempts. The first penalty was declined as the kick was good, but the second one proved valuable since Auburn dropped the snap and would have been forced to go without the point if not for the penalty.
Mullen offered an explanation.
“They came off (the field) and said the ball was flinching,” Mullen said. “We almost got offside on the field goal, too. Our coaches said they were flinching the ball a little bit but they didn’t call it.”
Close call
Auburn was nearly forced to do without one of its most pivotal defenders, safety Tray Matthews, for nearly the whole game. On MSU’s first possession, a pass intended for Deddrick Thomas was batted away by defensive back Javaris Davis, but Matthews came in after the play and hit Thomas.
The call on the field was for targeting on Matthews, but a review took the call away. Matthews’ presence proved to be important. He had an interception.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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