Mississippi State, led by a surprisingly effective air attack, left Auburn  Saturday night with a 17-9 victory. In a must-win game on the road, MSU grinded out a win in front of a crowd of 87,000 fans. This was also the Bulldogs first win at Auburn since 2007.
 MSU over the course of their history have always been a run-first team. Whether it be under Mullen, Sherrill or even the dark years of Sylvester Croom, MSU’s bread and butter was to run the football. However, Saturday night that was not the case as the Bulldogs won this game through the air, not on the ground. Gaining 270 yards through the air and only 56 on the ground.
 “I want to be a 50-50 team. But I also know we have some playmakers on the edge, let’s not be silly and get those guys the ball,” said MSU Head Coach Dan Mullen on why they threw the ball 41 times and only ran it 29.
Quarterback Dak Prescott went 29-41 through the air, gaining 270 yards and threw two touchdowns. Prescott did not have a go-to receiver this game as he would spread the ball around all night. Fred Ross led MSU with seven catches and 66 yards. De’Runnya Wilson and Gabe Myles were on the receiving end of the two touchdowns.
Myles caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from Prescott on MSU’s first drive of the game. The other scoring drive came in the second quarter, as Wilson made a spectacular sideline catch for a 17 yard touchdown reception.
 “Just using my size to the best of my ability. Like I said before, you can’t stop big time players from making big time plays. That what I bring to the table, it’s what I do,” said Wilson on the amazing catch.
On defense, MSU gave up huge yardage between the twenties but got stops when it mattered, mainly in the red zone. Twice in the first half Auburn was inside the five yard line and twice in the first half Auburn left with no points.
 “The attitude it takes to dominate the red zone comes from our strength program,” said MSU Defensive Coordinator Manny Diaz. “The attitude, the mentality that is the core value of our program. “
The big moment for this defense was late in the second half. Auburn had driven the ball to inside the one yard line. Twice they ran the ball on the one yard line and twice they were stuffed by the MSU defensive front. Then on third and goal from the one, the Tiger center snaps the ball over Auburn Quarterback Sean White’s head, forcing fourth and eight and a field goal attempt. The Tigers would go on to miss that field goal, giving MSU a 14-0 lead at halftime.
 MSU was led in tackles by Richie Brown, who had 13 total tackles, two of those being sacks. Will Redmond stepped up and got an interception on the first drive of the game, after missing a pick and allowing a huge catch a couple plays before, he also had 4 tackles.
MSU will be back in action next weekend at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas against Texas A&M. The Aggies are 4-0 this season and are coming off of an overtime win over Arkansas.