STARKVILLE — Welcome back to another edition of Portnoy’s Playbook.
As is the case each week, this is a place in which I’ll take what I deem to be the game-defining play from the previous week’s contest and do a thorough film breakdown of whatever happened.
Speaking with the media postgame, Mississippi State coach Joe Moorhead said he doesn’t see the value in entirely tossing out a game’s worth of film — even when his team was run off the field Saturday in a 56-23 loss at No. 7 Auburn. That said, neither will I.
Instead, I’ve got not one, but three (!) plays to breakdown with you today — all of which promptly destroyed any potential chance MSU had at an upset.
For those of you who caught Saturday’s absolute demolition, it was three quick Auburn touchdowns by Jatarvious Whitlow, Bo Nix and Anthony Schwartz that put MSU behind three scores just more than six minutes into the game.
The first touchdown of the afternoon came on a 30-yard rush by Whitlow. With the MSU defense in nickel coverage, Auburn lined up three receivers to the left of the formation.
As the play commenced, the MSU defensive front pushed upfield while Whitlow took the handoff and entered a one-on-one matchup with MSU junior corner Cameron Dantzler. Dipping outside instead of inside to try and set the edge, Danzler’s move left the middle of the field wide open.
Shooting the gap, Whitlow hit the hole and beat MSU junior safety C.J. Morgan to the pylon for the game’s opening touchdown.
Whitlow also crashed into “Jak,” MSU’s famed Bulldog mascot, as he entered the end zone — an ironic foreshadowing of the Tigers’ romp of the Bulldogs.
As Twitter exploded with well-wishes for the beloved pooch, Nix again brought the Auburn offense into the red zone with by way of a 22-yard completion to Seth Williams and a personal foul penalty on Morgan — one of five Bulldog penalties in the first five minutes of the game.
With Whitlow to his left, fullback Spencer Nigh standing as an up-back and one receiver split to either side of the formation, Nix corralled the snap.
On the left-hand edge of the formation, MSU defensive end Fletcher Adams was the identified option man. As he crashed down the line toward the interior, Nix tucked the ball and ran toward the edge.
With linebackers Aaron Brule, Erroll Thompson and defensive end Marquiss Spencer closing in near the right corner of the end zone, Nix dove headfirst across the goal line for a score.
“I feel like they had a great game plan and, overall, I feel that’s what gave us our biggest challenge because he was just on point,” junior defensive end Kobe Jones said of Nix. “He’s didn’ make a bad read. He was just confident, whether he was going to tuck and run or run (or) look to throw.”
The final nail in MSU’s proverbial coffin came on Schwartz’s 13-yard touchdown scamper.
With Nix lined up in the shotgun, Whitlow to his left, Nigh at up-back again and one receiver split out to either side, Schwartz came in motion from the left slot to the backfield.
Taking the snap, Nix looked to be in a veer-option set. As Spencer crashed inside from at right defensive end position, Nix handed the ball off to Schwartz who had quickly made his way midway across the field.
Upfield, MSU linebacker Aaron Bule was taken out with a low, cut block. With running back Malik Miller, receiver Seth Williams and left tackle No. 76 lead blocking Thompson, Morgan, and senior safety Maurice Smitherman, Schwartz simply followed his blocks into the end zone as Auburn took a 21-0 lead 6:01 into the game.
“We went into the week talking about how small the margin of error is,” Moorhead said. “And to come out and spot them 21 before the band even gets in their seats you don’t give yourself a chance — you’re fighting fighting out of the corner for the whole game.”
Though MSU still had almost 54 minutes of game time remaining, Auburn’s early onslaught effectively ended the contest before it even got going.
In all, the Tigers rushed for 217 yards and passed for another 361. Auburn also notched six of its eight touchdowns on the ground.
For context, the Bulldogs have allowed an average of 196 rush yards in games against Auburn, Kentucky and Kansas State the past three weeks. Saturday also marked the first time they allowed a 300-yard passer since allowing 320 yards to Ole Miss’ Shea Patterson Nov. 26, 2016.
With a rush defense that has been noticeably porous and a secondary that is admittedly banged up, the Auburn loss was a glimpse of what could be a long season defensively in Starkville.
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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