Oct. 8, 2016
By Charles Goldberg
AuburnTigers.com
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Montravius Adams said Carl Lawson did the hard part. He's the one that hit quarterback Nick Fitzgerald. He's the one that jarred the ball loose.
All Adams had to do was pick up the football and ramble 13 yards for an Auburn defensive touchdown.
"It was just good to see my teammate go in there and get the score," Lawson said after the Tigers beat Mississippi State 38-14 Saturday.
It was the touchdown Auburn's steadily improving defense - the Tigers led 35-0 at halftime - was looking for, and it figured that two of its most high-profile players, Adams and Lawson, combined to make it happen. Lawson had two sacks, Adams had one touchdown and the Tigers had six tackles for a loss.
Linebacker Tre' Williams said Adams' touchdown was for defensive coordinator Kevin Steele.
"It's about time," Williams said smiling. "Coach has been preaching on that for a long time. We finally got one for him."
Adams' touchdown pushed Auburn's lead to 35-0. But there was a significant defensive play before that. Barely a minute into the game, Mississippi State intercepted Sean White on a deflection, setting up the Bulldogs on the Auburn 19-yard line. Three yards and a missed chip-shot field goal later, the Tigers were on their way.
"That's our job to put the fire out. That's the Auburn Tigers working together," Williams said.
Malzahn said turning away State so early was "a huge play in the game."
"Then we were able to go down and score, and it kind of took the crowd out a little bit. Those cowbells, with the BBs inside them, is a different kind of noise."
There wasn't much for State to clank about in the first half, not when Auburn had scored five touchdowns and had outgained State 335 to 91.
"It's a game of momentum," Williams said. "We kept building are own momentum each possession."
State coach Dan Mullen acknowledged as much for his young Bulldogs. "They get swayed by momentum a lot," he said.
Auburn slowly silenced the crowd in the first half, thanks to the Lawson-Adams play, three Kamryn Pettway rushing touchdowns and a White touchdown pass. By game's end, Auburn was talking about winning its third straight game.
Lawson was talking about never losing the faith.
"We always kept that same work ethic no matter what happened. We bonded. That's a good team," Lawson said. "Through adversity, can you stay together? That's what we're preachingÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬¦ keeping the culture strong each and every week."
Charles Goldberg is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @AUGoldMine