Mississippi State football struggles at Auburn, gives up 24 points in first half

AUBURN, Ala. — In a Jordan-Hare Stadium filled with Auburn orange and explosive offense, Mississippi State's side imploded on both sides of the football.

In a game where MSU's defense allowed three points last week in a win at Arkansas, the Bulldogs surrendered 24 points just in the first half of Saturday's game. It led to an MSU 27-13 loss to the Tigers (3-2, 1-4).

Here's a look at how Mississippi State (4-4, 1-4 SEC) suffered its fourth conference defeat.

Defensive woes

MSU allowed Auburn to score effectively on both sides of the ball with opus highlights from Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne who exposed MSU's secondary early.

Thorne had 230 yards passing and three touchdowns despite Auburn entering the game as the worst passing team in the SEC. The Tigers also had 205 yards rushing.

Missed assignments and blown coverages were the Bulldogs' weakness since the outset. A 27-yard touchdown pass to open the game and a 45-yard touchdown pass on the consecutive drive was a caveat for MSU, leading to no answer for it.

Offense couldn't capitalize on chances

Despite MSU's large deficit, it had opportunities to bring the game within striking distance and maintain a favorable score. But failed fourth-down attempts and missed receivers didn't help. A chance to score before halftime and receive the ball at halftime to bring the game within a touchdown.

What happened? A failed 4th-and-1 play which led to no points and Auburn scoring with nine seconds remaining before halftime.

MSU quarterback Mike Wright missed receivers on deep throws and open receivers not seen, led to little offensive production and red zone attempts which led to field goals.

During MSU's last drive, the Bulldogs failed on another red-zone opportunity after two catches by receivers out of bounds.

Jo'Quavious Marks vastly missed

Running back Jo'Quavious Marks was ruled out of Saturday's game due to a leg injury, and his presence was missed for coach Zach Arnett's offense.

Many failed short-down conversations and missed red zone plays where Marks would have been more than beneficial could have resulted in a different outcome.

Zavion Thomas gets MSU's only touchdown

In the absence of Marks, someone on MSU's offense had to produce, and that player was Zavion Thomas. Thomas was MSU's only active receiver while scoring off a 14-yard receiving touchdown thrown by Wright while falling toward the back of the end zone, getting one foot in bounds.

Thomas finished with 112 yards on nine receptions.

MISSISSIPPI STATE BASEBALL SCHEDULE: Full Mississippi State baseball schedule 2024 released, including SEC, nonconference games

What's next?

Mississippi State hosts Kentucky on Nov. 4 (6:30 p.m., SEC Network). The Bulldogs lost to Kentucky last year when the Wildcats were ranked No. 22.

Michael Chavez covers high school sports, among others, for the Clarion-Ledger. Email him at mchavez@gannett.com or reach out to him on X, formerly Twitter@MikeSChavez.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi State football loses at Auburn, drops to 1-4 in SEC play