No. 3 Mississippi State Tops No. 2 Auburn

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STARKVILLE, Miss. (MSU Athletics) – No. 3 Mississippi State (6-0, 3-0 SEC) downed No. 2 Auburn (5-1, 2-1) 38-23 Saturday, taking down a top-10 opponent for the third game in a row. The 62,945 in attendance was the largest crowd in Davis Wade Stadium history.

“They deserve just as much credit for this as the guys on the field,” Mullen said.

As the loud as the fans were before the game even began, MSU had an equally impressive start.

The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 21-0 lead before a scoring drought fraught with turnovers and struggles at the line of scrimmage allowed the Tigers to trim the lead to eight points. It was a pass interference call on Auburn on fourth down in the fourth quarter which gave MSU a chance to break the scoreless stretch. MSU secured a field goal after getting the first down and maintained the double-digit lead the remainder of the game.

Junior quarterback Dak Prescott was aiming for 6’5” sophomore receiver De’Runnya Wilson on the play and they got the mismatch they wanted.

“We were going for the one-on-one,” Prescott said. “Just try to put it up in the air against a smaller a receiver and [Wilson] is either gonna get it or it’s gonna be a pass interference.”

In that instance, of course, it was the penalty they got.

“I don’t know how to put this,” Wilson said. “I mean, I’m 6’5”. I’m a physical receiver, so it’s kinda hard for some cornerbacks.”

Wilson led MSU with 72 yards and one touchdown on four catches.

The duo of Prescott and junior running back Josh Robinson once again paved the way for MSU offensively, combining for five touchdowns. Prescott was 18 of 34 passing for 246 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, while also racking up 121 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Robinson ran 19 times for 97 yards and two touchdowns.

Defensively, MSU forced four turnovers of its own and was led by junior corner Taveze Calhoun and senior linebacker Christian Holmes with six tackles each.

Those forced turnovers and several big stops (including holding Auburn to six of 15 on third downs) were what Mullen said helped secure the game.

“Whenever we needed plays, people made plays,” Mullen said. “We trust our players to make plays.”

State is now only the fifth school in college football history to win three-straight games against top 10 foes.

Mississippi State is off next weekend and next travels to play Kentucky in Lexington on Oct. 25 with time and television arrangements for that contest likely to be announced Monday.