2018 The Mississippi State Game

Auburn seems to be a slight favorite at StarkVegas for a 6:30 kickoff on ESPN2.  Auburn is 4 and 1 and MSU is 3 and 2 having lost their last two games including Florida at home last week.  Both teams struggle on offense; both teams are supposed to have good defenses.  In this scenario playing at home I think the Bulldogs have the advantage.  Our offense is what it is.  I see no hope this year for improvement.  The line is a mess, we do not have a great running back, and our QB is pressured and tentative.  Those Bulldogs have a good running, scrambling quarterback.  That could be the difference.  Will our offense do enough?  Will our offense improve?  Is offensive improvement even possible?

FIRST QUARTER

MSU wins the toss and defers.
The first possession from the 25 leads to a three and out.  So much for a good start.
MSU fair catches at their 21.

State goes three and out as we get pressure on their qb Fitzgerald.
Ryan Davis drops the punt but falls on it at the Auburn 32.

Another three and out.  On third and eight Stidham misses Schwartz down the field.
Stidham cannot hit open receivers.
MSU starts on their 27 after the punt.

On the ground State moves to the first first down of the game at their 42.
Auburn intercepts at midfield.  First down Auburn at the State 39.

First chance for the offense to show something with good field position.
The Tigers move to 4th and a football length short.
Carlson makes a 46 yard field goal.  Points at least after not taking a chance on 4th and very short.

Auburn 3  MSU 0

From their 25 State runs for a first down to their 36.
Their QB is a strong runner and he goes for 9 yards.
State runs to the Auburn 43.  State is winning the line of scrimmage more than Auburn is.
Fitzgerald rambles to the AU 14.
State is pounding the middle.
Fourth and four at the 8.
The field goal attempt is good.
Score tied but MSU showing the better offense so far.

Auburn 3  MSU 3

Stidham hits Slayton across the Auburn 40 for our first first down.
Auburn moves to the MSU 44.
First down to the 34 just enough.
The play is reviewed AFTER the chains have been moved.  I have never seen this before.
The quarter ends with an amazing non-understandable overturn with AU facing on 4th and less than yard.

SECOND QUARTER

More and more we are seeing, let's say, strange overturns by the replay people.
We start the quarter with a fourth and short that should not be happening.
The quarterback sneak picks up the first down.
Shiver runs to the 27.
We move to third and one.
Kam Martin drops the snap in the wildcat.  Not the best snap but he should handled it.
A five yard loss leads to a long FG attempt.
The kick is way wide left.  No good.  The offense flubs the dub on third and short.
This is the kind of things that will get you beat in a game that could be close.
A bad play on third and one in the wildcat.  Kim Martin cannot handle the snap.

MSU quickly goes to the Auburn 41.
First down to the 31.
The Bullies move to a long FG attempt.  Hits the goal post and bangs thru.

Auburn 3  MSU 6

We expected a low scoring game and that's what we have so far.
Our offense occasional looks in rhythm but as usual seems to always bogs down.
As in that last possession and the boo-boo on third down in the wildcat.
This game could be a field goal only game.
At least it won't be 3 to 2.
On third down Stidham overthrows a WIDE-OPEN Slayton.  No one near him and Stidham overthrows him by 3 yards.  Once again a major mistake by the offense.  Stidham is horrific in his throwing accuracy.  There is no excuse for missing, overthrowing, a receiver running down the field ALL ALONE.

Good punt inside the MSU five.
State is out to their 34 mostly Fitzgerald running between the tackles.
State is punting from there after three more downs.
Ryan Davis muffs the punt and State recovers.
State is on our 34.
Mistake after mistake after mistake so far in this game by the offense and now on the punt team.

Fitzgerald lumbers to the 21 on first down.
First down to the 11 but it's reviewed to make it third and very short.  As if it makes a difference.
Mistake and a turnover and this game is slipping away in the first half as poor as our offense is.
Our mistakes have cost us points.
They are running their QB up the middle and some jet sweeps and that's enough so far.
Fitzgerald to the five.  We cannot stop their quarterback running between the tackles.
To the one on a short pass.
Fitzgerald is stopped short of the goal line as the clock runs down leading to third at the one.
Fitzgerald fights his way into the end zone.  We cannot tackle this guy.
The play is reviewed.  Stan White says he is down short of the goal line.
The review confirms Fitzgerald was down short of the goal line.  Fourth down inside the one.
State calls timeout leaving 4 seconds to run the last play of the half.
Auburn uses its final timeout as State lines up.
Fitzgerald's rush up the middle is ruled a touchdown but the play is reviewed.  It is close.
The play is reviewed and called a touchdown.   Our announcers say he was short.  These close calls never seem to go our way.
Too bad but our mistakes have doomed us so far.

Auburn 3  MSU 13

THIRD QUARTER

MSU receives to start the half.  A touchdown here and this game could be over  The Bulldogs have more than doubled our time of possession.  Little things on offense doomed us in the first half.
Stan White says Auburn has to come out throwing the football in the second half.  We had 79 total yards in the first half.  Nothing has changed so far with a struggling offense.

From the 25 first down to the State 39.
First down to the Auburn 47.
State is taking control of this game.
They are gashing our defense which has been on the field all night long.
This is sad to watch.
First down to the AU 33.  They are methodically slogging their way thru our defense.
First down to the 22.  Simple plays.  Nothing fancy what they are doing.
State calls a TO with 8:59 left in the quarter.  They have already used up 6 minutes of the quarter and they already had a big advantage in time of possession.
The FG is good.

Auburn 3  MSU 16

Auburn gets a long completion to Ryan Davis to the MSU 33 but as usual we bog down at the 20 and have to settle for three.  Still a two score game and our defense is tired.

Auburn 6  MSU 16

State goes three and out with 4:24 left in the quarter.
Ryan Davis fair catches at the Auburn 30.

All of remaining offensive possessions are critical including this one.
On third and long there is a long gain to midfield and a first down.
Whitlow makes a big run and fumbles as he crosses the goal line.  The call on the field is a touchback as State recovers the ball in the end zone.  The play is reviewed.
The call is upheld.  Touchback.  Now THAT was just bad luck.  Great run but he loses the ball as he reaches the ball across the goal line.  The ball comes out and the refs call it a touchback.  This is demoralizing.  He should not have been reaching with the ball with the defender in a position to knock it out.  Should have tucked it in.  It could have been called a touchdown anyway.

State continues their same offense and cross midfield.
The quarter ends.  We need a stop and two scores.  Not likely.

FOURTH QUARTER

Our defense stops them on fourth and less than a yard inside our territory.   DeShaun Davis is injured.

Auburn stops at their 42.
A short pass crosses midfield.
We move to third and nine as Stidham makes a bad throw on second down.
From the MSU 45 we face a big third and nine.  They're all big now.
Two big plays and Auburn is first and goal on the 6.
We move to third and six as Stidham can't complete a pass.
Incomplete pass to Slayton at the one.  One of our offensive difficulties is Stidham.  Not a very effective quarterback.
First and goal at the six and we have to settle for another field goal.
We simply cannot find the end zone.  If by some miracle we win this game it's called winning ugly.
All we need is three more field goals.

Auburn 9  MSU 16

11:24 left.
State drive to a 32 field goal attempt and it's BLOCKED.
Including a 15 yard penalty we have great field position.
We move to fourth and 10 at the MSU 30 as Stidham either misfired or Whitlow drops a short pass that would have been a good gain.  Stidham is horrible, simply horrible.

Now with 6:33 left MSU gets the ball back back and on first down there's a 17 yard rushing gain.
We had our chances.  We had our chances but our offense once again cannot get it done.
State losses midfield.  What a game.  What a game.
On third and three Fitzgerald runs for a first down and the clock moves under 4 minutes.
Our offense blew this game.  What else?
Our defense is worn out.  I feel sorry for them.  Our offense will not get any better.  It is what it is.
2:55 left and another first down as Auburn jumps offsides.
First and 10 at the 30.
Timeout Auburn with 2:37 left.
On third and short from the 22 their QB Fitzgerald breaks tackle at the line of the scrimmage and stomps into the end zone.  Good for the Bullies.  State has run for about 350 yards.  They have a very simple offense and they win the game.  Our offense once gain has not changed and is inconsistent.

Auburn 9  MSU 23

From the 35 Stidham is sacked on first down.  It figures.
Short completions but pointless as the game ends.  Stidham overthrows every deep throw.
It hurts to lose to Mississippi State.  All power to them but they a very average team and we could not be a very average SEC team.

FINAL SCORE

Auburn 9  MSU 23