The Mississippi State Bulldogs got off to one of their best starts in nearly 60 years when they jumped out to 5-0 to start the season by knocking off Middle Tennessee State, Memphis, Oklahoma State, South Carolina and Vanderbilt to find themselves ranked No. 14 in the country as they headed to Auburn to face the Tigers.
Early on, it looked like the Bulldogs might see their winning streak end. Mississippi State found itself down at the half, and the Bulldogs' starting quarterback, Wayne Madkin, had been forced from the game with injury. Senior Matt Wyatt took over the reigns for Mississippi State, and in the fourth quarter, he put together two touchdown drives in the final five minutes to lead the Bulldogs to a victory.
Trailing 16-3, Wyatt hooked up with C. J. Sirmones (apparently no one covered him in 1999), who the Auburn defenders found to late, in the end zone to cut the lead to 16-10. On that touchdown drive, Wyatt went five for five for 51 yards.
After kicking away to Auburn, Mississippi State's defense forced a three and out to keep the Bulldogs' chances alive. With under a minute to play, Tommy Tuberville elected for his punter Damon Duvall to take a safety, cutting the score to 16-12, but giving Auburn better circumstances for sending the ball back to Mississippi State.
Whatever advantage Auburn gained from the safety, Pig Prather erased when he fielded the free kick at the Mississippi State 12-yard line and returned it 40 yards into Auburn territory.
With under a minute to work, the Bulldogs picked up a chunk of yards quickly when Wyatt connected with Terrell Grindle to move the ball to the Auburn 11-yard line. After having to throw the ball away on first down, it looked like Mississippi State had a surefire touchdown on second down as Dicenzo Miller broke open in the end zone, but he slipped, causing the pass to fall incomplete.
On the next play, Wyatt, with the game on the line, found a way to hit Matt Butler in the tiniest of seams to put the Bulldogs on top 18-16 to stun the 80,364-strong crowd at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Wyatt finished the game 17 for 29 for 209 yards and two touchdowns.