Auburn Posts 24-10 Victory Over Bulldogs

Saturday, December 12

Starkville

6:30 PM

Mississippi State

2-7 , 2-7

Auburn

6-4 , 6-4

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Auburn

Mississippi State

Bulldog Austin Williams celebrates after his fourth-quarter touchdown reception.

Auburn Posts 24-10 Victory Over Bulldogs

December 12, 2020 | Football

Box Score Box Score Postgame Notes Postgame Quotes Video: Game Highlights Photo Gallery

By: Mikaela Elizondo, Graduate Assistant/Communications

STARKVILLE – In a game that was largely defensive for most of the night, visiting Auburn (6-4, 6-4 SEC) pulled away for a 24-10 victory over Mississippi State (2-7, 2-7 SEC) Saturday night at Davis Wade Stadium.

A pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns by Auburn proved to be the difference after the teams exchanged nothing but field goals through the first three quarters of play.

Auburn marched to Mississippi State's 10-yard line midway through the first quarter, before Collin Duncan broke up a pass to the end zone and Erroll Thompson's pressure on the quarterback forced the Tigers to settle for a field goal. The Bulldogs knotted the score at 3-3 with 5:27 remaining in the first half as Brandon Ruiz successfully nailed a 41-yard field goal.

In Auburn's final drive of the first half, Tank Bigsby rushed for 47 yards on four carries to lead the Tigers to MSU's 20-yard line. Anders Carlson kicked the ball through the uprights as time expired to allow AU to carry a 6-3 lead into the locker room at halftime.

In the third quarter, Smoke Monday intercepted Will Rogers' pass and returned it 31 yards to the Mississippi State 38-yard line to set up a Carlson field goal and extend the Tigers' advantage to 9-3. The 45-yard field goal would be the only score in the quarter.

The first touchdown of the game came when the Tigers put together a 10-play, 95-yard drive to start the fourth quarter that culminated in a Seth Williams 32-yard touchdown reception in the end zone. State didn't take long to fire back with a touchdown of its own. Lideatrick Griffin gave the Bulldogs great field position after he returned the ensuing kickoff 65 yards to the Auburn 29-yard line. After rushing to the Tigers' 16-yard line, Rogers tossed a pair of eight-yard passes to Jaden Walley and Austin Williams to slice AU's lead to 16-10.

Auburn answered with 6:03 to play when Bo Nix plunged three yards into the end zone before successfully finding Ze'Vian Capers for the two-point conversion to bring the score to its final 24-10 margin.

For MSU, Rogers ended the night having completed 30-of-51 passes for 221 yards and a touchdown. He was intercepted twice. Walley hauled in eight of those passes for 100 yards, making him the first freshman in MSU history with three 100-yard receiving games. Defensively, Thompson paced the Bulldogs with 11 tackles as he became the first Bulldog since 2002 to reach 300 career stops.

Quotable...

"We just have to make the plays that are expected of us. On the regular plays, we don't have to do anything extraordinary. We just need to click better. We need to execute. Each person on the field needs to execute, me included. There were just some small plays we have to make. We have to consistently make [those plays] to keep moving down the field." - WR Austin Williams

Notables From Tonight's Game Against Auburn…

Rogers Sets More Records

Rogers completed 30 passes to become the first Bulldog quarterback to complete 30 or more passes in four consecutive games. His four career 30-completion games rank second in program history behind Dak Prescott (2012-15), who tallied five. Rogers broke the MSU freshman record in passing yards and passing attempts with 1,533 yards and 280 passing attempts, respectively.

Walley Sets Freshman Season Receiving Yards Record

Walley tallied 100 receiving yards to bring his season total to 562 yards, which is a MSU freshman record. Walley also became the first true freshman in program history to record three 100-yard receiving games in the same season and the first Bulldog with three straight 100-yard receiving games since 2015.

Thompson Leads MSU Defense

State's defense was paced by Thompson, who tallied a team-high 11 tackles. Along the way, Thompson became the first Bulldog since Mario Haggan (1999-2002) to eclipse the 300-tackle mark with 302 tackles for his career.

Offense Reaches Milestones

The 2020 Mississippi State offense, in its first season with Mike Leach at the helm, has broken the MSU single-season completion mark with 333 this year. The 2015 offense previously held the record, completing 331 passes that season. Along the way, State has posted six individual 100-yard receiving games, one shy of the record seven such games in the 2015 campaign.

Griffin Shines in First Career Start

Griffin returned a kickoff 65 yards in the fourth quarter to set up the Bulldogs' lone touchdown. His kickoff return marked State's longest since Brandon Holloway returned one 69 yards at Missouri on November 5, 2015. He also recorded a career-high 16 receiving yards on three catches.

Ruiz's Extra Point Streak

With his successful extra point attempt in the fourth quarter, Brandon Ruiz boasts an active streak of 111 consecutive extra points made in his career. Ruiz's 41-yard field goal in the second quarter marks his second successful field goal from 40-plus yards this season. In the season opener against LSU, Ruiz hit a field goal from 43 yards out.

Next Up for MSU…

State stays at home for its final regular season matchup of 2020 when the Bulldogs welcome Missouri (5-4, 5-4 SEC) to Davis Wade Stadium next Saturday, Dec. 19. The game is slated to kickoff at 2:30 p.m. CT. Television information for the contest is still to be announced.

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