Bulldogs fall short vs. Tigers

Published 12:01 pm Friday, September 10, 2010

STARKVILLE — Three times in the last two minutes Thursday night, Mississippi State got one of the miracles it needed to upset Auburn.

A blocked field goal. A terrific fourth-down catch. A fortunate pass interference penalty on third-and-long. And then a pass right in a receiver’s hands to move them into field goal range … until it clanged to the turf. Another fourth-down pass sailed over the same receiver’s head, and that was that. No. 21 Auburn had beaten the Bulldogs for the ninth time in 10 years, 17-14.

Quarterback Cameron Newton ran for 70 yards and threw a pair of first-half touchdown passes for Auburn (2-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference), which overcame a stingy defensive effort by Mississippi State (1-1, 0-1) and an uneven offensive performance of its own. Auburn gained 348 yards — Newton was 11-of-19 passing for 136 yards — and scored 10 points in the second quarter off of two Mississippi State turnovers.

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“We had every opportunity to win that football game. We had five dropped passes and two turnovers. On defense, we missed some plays that would’ve given us momentum. Our kickoffs were short. That’s the execution we have to get cleaned up as a team,” Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen said. “The opportunity was there for us to win and we didn’t grab it.”

Auburn defensive end Nick Fairley did grab it — twice. He corralled a batted pass for an interception, then recovered a fumbled snap on MSU’s next series. The first turnover led to a 12-yard touchdown pass from Newton to Darvin Adams, and the second a 34-yard field goal by Wes Byrum that gave the Tigers a 17-7 lead at halftime.

Fairley finished the game with five total tackles, 1 ½ sacks, a fumble recovery and an interception. As a team, Auburn had three sacks.

“Every time you saw him, he was in the backfield and he was doing things. Obviously, he picked the one ball, and I was just very proud of him tonight,” Auburn coach Gene Chizik said.

Mississippi State opened the second half with a 12-play, 63-yard drive capped by Vick Ballard’s 1-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 17-14, then gained a huge momentum boost when Sean Brauchle recovered his own onsides kick on the ensuing kickoff.

The Bulldogs failed to capitalize, however. They went three-and-out on their next three series and gained just one first down between the scoring drive and their last possession. They gained 121 yards in the second half, roughly half of it on the first drive.

“That was where we really lost all of our momentum on offense,” Mullen said. “The defense was picking it up and we didn’t sustain it on offense.”

Despite its offensive woes, Mississippi State still had a chance to win in the final minutes. Byrum’s 37-yard field goal attempt with 2:19 to play was blocked and rolled into the end zone, giving the Bulldogs the ball at their own 20, trailing 17-14, with a chance to tie or win.

Quarterback Chris Relf, who was 12-of-25 passing for 110 yards in the game, hit Arceto Clark for 21 yards on fourth-and-3 from the MSU 27 to keep the drive alive. Three plays later, on third-and-14, Clark drew a pass interference penalty to move the chains again.

Then, finally, State’s momentum and luck ran out.

Leon Berry dropped a pass on second-and-10 that would have been good for another first down. On fourth-and-10 from the Auburn 41, Relf looked toward Berry on a deep sideline route they had tried several times on the drive. Berry, though, had cut the route short and run a curl. Relf’s pass sailed down the field and fell incomplete, ending MSU’s hopes.

Auburn got the ball with 22 seconds left, took a knee and ran out the clock. The Tigers escaped with a big SEC victory, while Mississippi State had yet another moral victory it didn’t want.