Mississippi State falls to Auburn 24-10

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Mississippi State dropped a gritty 24-10 game to Auburn Saturday night at Davis Wade Stadium.

Points were tough to come by in the game, with the teams trading nothing but field goals through the first three quarters of play.

Auburn (6-4) took a 3-0 lead midway through the first quarter when junior kicker Anders Carlson connected from 27 yards out. MSU (2-7) then answered with when junior kicker Brandon Ruiz connected on a 41-yard field goal to make it 3-3 with 5:27 left in the half. The Tigers would then retake the at 6-3 when Carlson made a 37-yard kick as time expired in the first half.

A 45-yard field goal from Carlson was the only score in the third quarter and the Tigers led 9-3 heading to the final quarter of play.

The first touchdown of the game came with 10:03 left in the game when Auburn sophomore quarterback Bo Nix hit junior wide receiver Seth Williams for a 32-yard TD to give the Tigers a 16-3 lead.

After a big kickoff return from freshman wide receiver Lideatrick Griffin, MSU drove 29 yards on five plays and scored on an 8-yard TD pass over the middle from freshman QB Will Rogers to junior wide receiver Austin Williams to make it 16-10 with 8:24 left.

The Tigers then drove 75 yards on just five plays, with Nix ending the drive with a 3-yard TD rush with 6:03 on the clock to make it a 24-10 finish.

Rogers completed 30 of 51 passes for 221 yards passing, one TD and two interceptions. Freshman WR Jaden Walley made eight catches for 100 yards receiving.

The Bulldog defense held Nix to 15-of-32 passing for 125 yards and a score, but MSU gave up 192 yards rushing on 26 carries to freshman running back Tank Bigsby.

The Bulldogs stay home for their final regular season matchup of the 2020 season when the Bulldogs welcome the Missouri Tigers to Davis Wade Stadium next Saturday. Game time is set for 2:30 p.m. CT. Television information for the contest will be announced soon.