Auburn blows big lead in loss to Miss. State

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Rogers and lack of Auburn pass rush spark huge MSU comeback

ByMark Murphy

4-5 minutes

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2 Minute Drill: Auburn blows big lead in loss to Miss. State

 

AUBURN, Alabama–Leading 28-3 late in the second quarter, Auburn lost its offensive momentum and the defense collapsed as Will Rogers went wild passing the football against the Auburn Tigers. The result was a 43-34 SEC victory for Mississippi State on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium as the Tigers surrendered 40 uncontested points and gave up six passing touchdowns.

The home team also surrendered any outside chance it had to stay in the race for the divisional title by allowing the visiting Bulldogs to score 40 straight points beginning with their first touchdown drive of the day, moving 75 yards on 10 plays just before halftim

After holding the Mississippi State offense to 155 yards in the first half, with 144 through the air, time after time Rogers found open receivers on mostly short and medium pass routes against the Auburn defense. On almost every occasion he was able to throw without any pressure and he often had time to go to his secondary receivers on whatever route he chose.

“I thought in the first half we got more pressure on him,” Auburn’s head coach, Bryan Harsin, said of how the Tigers dealt with Rogers and the MSU passing attack. “At least we made him move from his alignment in the pocket so at least we got him off his spot more than we did in the second half. I think their offensive line did a good job of making adjustments.

“I don’t know why we didn’t get as much pressure and why he felt more comfortable in the second half than the first half,” said Harsin, whose team spent most of the day rushing three players vs. the Mississippi State quarterback. 

In the third quarter Rogers completed 17-18 passes for 198 yards as the Bulldogs scored on drives of 75 yards and 98 plays to cut the lead to 28-23 going in the fourth quarter.

The final quarter wasn’t any better for the Auburn defense, Rogers hit 7-8 of passes for 73 yards while the Bulldogs added 60 yards on the ground in the period. They took the lead with 13:28 left on a six-yard pass play after moving 72 yards in just six plays.

Two more quick score drives of 55 yards on five plays and 45 yards on four plays after an Auburn fake punt pass attempt was incomplete sealed the home team’s fate on Saturday to the dismay of a sellout crowd at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

With the loss the Tigers dropped to 6-4 overall and 3-3 in the SEC.

Will Rogers finds plenty of time to throw the ball vs. the Auburn defense. (Photo: John Reed, USA TODAY Sports)    

For the game the Auburn defense allowed the Bulldogs to finish with 487 yards on 75 plays. Rogers completed 44-55 passes for 415 yards and was not intercepted. 

Unlike the previous week in a loss at Texas A&M where Auburn’s offense was shut down for all four quarters and the defense gave the Tigers a chance to win, this week Auburn’s offense scored five touchdowns. However, only one of those came in the second half and that came with 3:37 left in the fourth quarter that was too little, too late. Auburn's quarterback, Bo Nix, hurt an ankle and missed the final Auburn possession. Nix completed 27-41 passes for 377 yards and two touchdowns before giving way to T.J. Finley, who lost a fumble on Auburn's final offensive possession.

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Asked how the team can bounce back from the loss, Harsin said, “One it comes back to loving football. That is going to be challenge because when you win everything is good. When you lose you start to question yourself and the things you are doing.”

Harsin added, “We absolutely talked about that in the locker room. It is the same message going back to fall camp and spring practice about what it takes to be successful,” he said about the desire to win games and improve individually and as a team in the process.

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