STARKVILLE — For nearly 50 minutes Saturday, Mississippi State defensive coordinator Zach Arnett’s unit held firm against an Auburn offense that converted just five of 16 on third downs on the night.
But facing third-and-16 from the MSU 32-yard line, maligned Tiger quarterback Bo Nix snapped the Bulldog defense like a toothpick as he hit Seth Williams over the top for a game-clinching touchdown in the front right corner of the north end zone at Davis Wade Stadium to give Auburn a 24-10 win in Starkville.
“We’ve just got to make the plays that are expected of us,” junior receiver Austin Williams said. “The regular plays, you don’t have to do anything extraordinary. We had some opportunities tonight. We just need to click better and execute — each person on the field, me included, everyone.”
After two weeks of relative offensive aptitude against No. 9 Georgia and Ole Miss, MSU promptly fell back to earth in Saturday’s first half.
Snap after snap during the opening 30 minutes, freshman quarterback Will Rogers was forced to scramble side to side or step up in the pocket as the dismal offensive line play of weeks past returned. When Rogers was able to find time, Geor’quarius Spivey, Cameron Gardner and the revolving door of Bulldog receivers not named Jaden Walley mistimed jumps, cut too slowly out of their breaks or just flat out dropped balls that would’ve given MSU a semblance of rhythm.
And then there were the penalties. Auburn and MSU combined for 10 flags — including two unsportsmanlike conduct fouls, a kick-catch interference and a roughing the kicker call — and 125 yards in the game’s opening half.
Tiger defensive back Ladarius Tennison also saw one of the more egregious hits of the night initially called targeting overturned, much to the chagrin of those inside Davis Wade Stadium and the keyboard cowboys watching from home.
“If you give me $10,000, I’ll give you the best explanation in your entire life,” head coach Mike Leach said in jest postgame.
For what MSU lacked in true offensive consistency Saturday, it found production in freshman receiver Jaden Walley. Walley, who broke Mardye McDole’s single-game freshman receiving record in the Egg Bowl two weeks ago, snatched McDole’s freshman single-season receiving record against the Tigers as he caught eight passes for 100 yards.
After trading four field goals and one miss by MSU kicker Brandon Ruiz, Nix’s pass to Williams gave Auburn the big play it had misfired on throughout Saturday’s contest and a 13-point lead with 10:03 remaining.
With the door seemingly slammed shut, Bulldog freshman receiver Lideatrick “Tulu” Griffin barked back with a speedy 65-yard kickoff return to set up MSU at the Auburn 30-yard line. Following two incompletions and a heady 13-yard scramble on third down, Rogers found Williams wide open over the middle to bring the Bulldogs back within six.
As MSU pulled back within striking distance, Auburn running back Tank Bigsby bludgeoned the Bulldog defensive front on back-to-back runs of 15 yards — the latter of which he dragged a gaggle of maroon and white clad defenders on his back. Following another Bigsby 24-yard rush — part of his 26-carry, 192-yard night — Bo Nix shook an MSU defender out of his shoes and scampered into the end zone for the night’s final score.
“Me personally, I think it’s just a hat tip to them,” senior linebacker Erroll Thompson said of how Bigsby was able to find so many holes. “I feel like they did a lot of great things, schemed up a lot of great things.”
Following a two-point conversion connection between Nix and Ze’Vian Capers to push the final margin to 14 points, Williams danced around the back edge of the south end zone trading verbal jabs with the MSU fans gathered in the lower level boxes at the foot of Scott Field. For a team that showed fight in near misses against Georgia and Ole Miss in recent weeks, Leach’s squad fell short of the necessary bite needed Saturday.
“I’m sure Will’s got a couple throws he’d like to have over again,” he said. “Some of those were a combination of protection and routes clearing and things like that. We’ve just got to fight through it and improve as a team.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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