AU-MISS ST: Epic comeback leaves Tigers perplexed

Mississippi State defeated Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday. (AU Media Relations)

By TIM GAYLE

There was a point in Saturday’s game when Auburn, owning a comfortable 28-3 lead over Mississippi State, could do no wrong.

As Mississippi State engineered the biggest comeback in school history by scoring an unimaginable 40 unanswered points to pull off a 43-34 shocker at Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn suddenly could seem to do no right.

“We needed to be able to continue what we did in the first half in the second half,” Auburn coach Bryan Harsin said. “We didn’t do that. They got momentum, and we didn’t get it back really until the fourth quarter and a little bit too late. Situational football, we’ve got to be better on third downs. We had too many penalties. But at the end of the day, we had all our opportunities to win the game, so we’re not going to make excuses for our play. Mississippi State played well enough to win, and they got themselves back in the game and finished it.”

But as Auburn dropped its third conference game -- and fell to fifth in the Southeastern Conference West Division -- the question of how a game could go from comfortably in hand to dealing with an unstoppable opponent wasn’t easily answered.

“I’m not quite sure what happened there,” Auburn quarterback Bo Nix said. “Just felt like the entire stadium, just the life mellowed out, just relaxed there a little and it was hard to get the momentum back. And they did a great job on offense, defense and special teams. We just didn’t have the same intensity we needed.”

As Kobe Hudson made an incredible one-handed grab of a Nix pass early in the second quarter to give the Tigers a 28-3 lead, it seemed as if the rout was on. Nix had completed 12 of 13 passes for 162 yards as Auburn generated 288 yards on 30 plays. 

“Auburn got some explosive plays, and one guy I’d like to meet was No. 5 (Hudson),” Mississippi State coach Mike Leach said. “That guy just tore it up. That touchdown in the corner of the end zone was unbelievable for them. They were really hot in the first half and even scored on plays we had really well defended. We just had to wait for them to cool off and eventually they did.”

Mississippi State, meanwhile, had just 57 yards on 22 plays and Bulldog quarterback Will Rogers was an average 12 of 20 for 62 yards.

“I think the biggest thing is we didn’t get discouraged by the first half and that would have been easy to do,” Leach said. “I was proud of our guys they didn’t get discouraged and they stuck together. Coming out of the second half, I thought the biggest thing was that they played better. That first half we played tentative and played not to lose. As we played aggressively, we executed better.”

In the final 36 minutes of the game, Rogers would turn into an unstoppable force and Auburn would self-destruct. The Bulldog quarterback completed 32 of 35 passes for 353 yards and a school-record six touchdowns to bring his team back, with Mississippi State generating 430 yards on 53 plays over the final two and a half quarters. 

“As odd as it sounds, it’s practice,” Leach said. “We’ve done it a couple times and we’ve gained some experience from what it’s like when you bounce back. I was very proud of the effort there and I was proud that there weren’t a bunch of guys looking for the door and trying to act like it didn’t matter very much.”

Auburn, which had a field goal attempt blocked, a fake punt foiled and a two-point pass intercepted, found another dozen ways to lose a game in the second half. Offensively, as Leach pointed out, Auburn cooled off, with Nix completing 15 of 28 passes for 215 yards and Auburn generating just 195 yards on 40 plays after taking a 28-3 lead.

“We have to take this and we’ll learn from it,” Harsin said. “But the sting has to stay and that’s something we have to make sure we put into work. What it takes to be able to play a four-quarter ball game. We need to prepare the type of intensity and focus that it takes to do that day in and day out, and then how that will show up on Saturdays and get the results that we want.

“You’ve got to be able to start like we did. You’ve got to be able to finish much better than we did. An 18-point lead is not enough. That’s what we talked about at half. That’s not enough. You’ve got to keep playing. I’ve got to do a better job and make sure we understand how to finish and how to keep attacking and playing our game throughout four quarters of it.”

After Nix’s two-point conversion pass was intercepted to leave the margin at nine points, Mississippi State’s next possession ended with a missed field goal and Nix was replaced with backup T.J. Finley as trainers worked on Nix’s ankle. 

“Just got a little nicked and injured, just for a minute,” Nix said, when asked about his status for next week’s game at South Carolina. “Not quite sure, moving forward.”