Everything's Bigger in...Starkville

The SEC in-conference season opened with big QB's (both of 'em large and talented), big plays on both sides, the jumbo-est Jumbotron outside of Dallas ( 152 feet wide, 135 feet tall, and it is HD!), and a big 4-star win for us. 

For $6 million, you can have one, too.  Ladies, it's never too
 early to start Christmas shopping for that special guy.Double click
on the photo to get a full screen rendering.  It's huge. 

Auburn quickly established its game, with their big QB running and throwing to open up a pounding inside run game, drawing first blood to go up 7-0.  Their defense then did a bend-don't-break stand, only to fumble away the Mississippi State punt .  That led to a tying TD.  Auburn took charge again with a pair of scoring drives to take a 17-7 halftime lead, though I was puzzled by Auburn's decision not to even try a long 3 as the half expired.

Mississippi State came out for the second half like their hair was on fire and quickly closed the gap to 17-14.  MState followed the score with an onside kick that the kicker himself recovered, trying to seize the offensive momentum they had established.  The Auburn defense came up really big and snuffed the threat.

As the fourth quarter wound down, it was MState's turn to shine on defense.  They pulled off a very dramatic bend-don't break of their own, blocking a FG try by Auburn with 2 1/2 to play.  MState put on a show, converting a beautiful 4th down play as the clock ticked down.  Auburn's D counterpunched with a pair of great plays before committing pass interference on 3rd down to inject life into a flagging MState drive.  It was a dropped pass on the ensuing 3rd down that finally let the air out of the comeback balloon, followed by a busted play on 4th down to make it official.  Mississippi State made fewer mistakes, but Auburn showed veteran composure. 

Bottom line: a 4 star winner.