MISSISSIPPI STATE 20, (11) AUBURN 0
AUBURN, Ala. -- Anthony Derricks brought back an interception 90
yards for a touchdown and Mississippi State made a bid for the
Southeastern Conference West Division title by handing
11th-ranked Auburn its first home shutout in 21 years, 20-0.
Derricks foiled a scoring bid midway through the second period,
picking off Dameyune Craig's pass and returning it all the way
for a 10-0 lead. Craig was intercepted four times and saw his
streak of 13 games with a TD pass come to an end.
"If you're going to beat Auburn, you're going to have to contain
Dameyune Craig," Mississippi State coach Jackie Sherrill said.
"You're going to have to give more effort than their receivers."
Brian Hazelwood kicked two first-half field goals and James
Johnson rumbled 38 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown for
Mississippi State (6-2, 3-2 SEC), which has won three in a row
for the first time since 1994. Matt Wyatt was 10-of-19 for 135
yards and one interception for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs had a pair of sacks and held the Tigers to minus-3
rushing yards, overcoming 11 penalties. Auburn was stopped on
four of five fourth-down plays and was held to negative yardage
on the ground for the third time this year.
"When you get a team that stops our pass, we don't have anything
else to fall back on," Auburn coach Terry Bowden said. "I'm
concerned about us finding ourselves offensively."
"I don't understand Auburn coming out in the second half and
trying to run the ball," Sherrill said. "They would have been
better off trying to throw the ball. But I'm glad they didn't."
It was a stunning loss for Auburn (7-2, 4-2), which was blanked
for the first time in four-plus years under Bowden and shut out
at Jordan-Hare Stadium for the first time since a 28-0 loss to
Georgia in 1976.
The outcome created a logjam atop the SEC West. Mississippi
State, Auburn and LSU all have two conference losses and are 1-1
against each other.
Craig had a terrible game, completing just 20-of-54 passes for
270 yards and four interceptions. Tyrone Goodson caught four
passes for 112 yards before leaving with an injury.
"It's a tough loss," Craig said. "We just didn't execute in the
red zone. They did a great job executing defensively. They did
some things on the field that we didn't see in practice."
Mississippi State 20, (11) AUBURN 0
1 2 3 4 F
- - - - --
Mississippi St 3 10 0 7 20
Auburn (11) 0 0 0 0 0
Mississippi St-FG Hazelwood 38
Mississippi St-Derricks 90 interception return (Hazelwood
kick)
Mississippi St-FG Hazelwood 41
Mississippi St-Johnson 38 run (Hazelwood kick)
Mississippi St Auburn
First downs 12 17
Rushed-yards 43-149 20-M3
Passing yards 135 270
Sacked-yards lost 2-17 1-7
Return yards 134 44
Passes 10-19-1 20-54-4
Punts 7-44.1 7-49.4
Fumbles-lost 1-1 4-2
Penalties-yards 11-72 3-24
Time of possession 30:37 29:23
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Mississippi St-Johnson 19-81, Isaac 12-53, McKinley
5-18, N Greer 3-7, Wyatt 4-minus 10. Auburn-Craig 6-12, R
Williams 2-8, F Beasley 4-6, Carter 6-5, Team 2-minus 34.
PASSING: Mississippi St-Wyatt 10-19-1-135. Auburn-Craig
20-54-4-270.
RECEIVING: Mississippi St-Belcher 2-9, Johnson 1-32, Butler 1-28,
Kelly 1-19, Grant 1-18, McKinley 1-9, Woodberry 1-8, N Greer 1-7,
Isaac 1-5. Auburn-Bailey 6-58, Goodson 4-112, Lowe 4-34, Poor
2-39, Robinson 2-11, R Williams 1-12, Cooper 1-4.
Att: 82,736
Courtesy of Infobeat Sports