Editor's Note: Ten years ago this week, Auburn improved to 2-0 on its way to one of the greatest seasons in program history. Each week, we'll be taking you back in time to relive the journey to the 2010 National Championship.
AUBURN, Ala. – There's a rhythm to the weekly schedule of a college football team during the season. Practice, weightlifting, meetings, rest, compete, recover, repeat. Each day is regimented. When a Thursday kickoff compresses the schedule, adjustments must be made, especially for the visiting team, which loses an additional day to travel.
That's the scenario that greeted No. 21 Auburn on Sept. 9, 2010, when the Tigers ventured to Starkville, Mississippi for the SEC opener against Mississippi State.
Five days after throttling Arkansas State 52-26 at Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn beat the Bulldogs 17-14 to win its conference debut for the 17th time in 18 years.
"I remember it was a very hostile environment, first of all," recalled Auburn coach Gus Malzahn, the Tigers offensive coordinator in 2010. "You could just feel the electricity before the game. Of course, it went down to the very end."
Cam Newton displayed his dual-threat ability, passing for 136 yards and a pair of touchdown while rushing for 70 yards.
"You sign up to play college football to play in games like this," Newton said.
Auburn led 17-7 at the half. The Bulldogs scored on the opening drive of the second half, but the Tigers' defense shut out State the rest of the game.
With two victories in 12 days, the Tigers returned from Starkville knowing they would have two extra days to recover and prepare for Clemson's visit in week three, and the return of the normal rhythm of a season for the ages.
IMPACT PLAYER: Nick fairley
To use basketball parlance, Nick Fairley was a stat-sheet-stuffer against Mississippi State.
On his way to winning the Lombardi Award and being the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, Fairley delivered a dominating performance on national television. An interception, five tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, three quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery.
PLAY OF THE GAME: opening drive fourth-and-1
With the cowbells ringing loudly, Auburn faced a decision on its opening drive. After crossing midfield, the Tigers had fouth-and-1 on the Bulldogs' 46-yard line. Punt and try to pin State inside the 20? Go for it and risk giving the Bulldogs great field position plus the early momentum jolt that comes from a fourth-down stop?
Auburn chose Option C. Give the ball to Cam, move the chains and score a touchdown three plays later. Newton kept for 5 yards and a first down to the 41. After a pair of Mario Fannin runs, Newton hit Emory Blake for a 39-yard touchdown on a screen pass on third-and-8 to give Auburn a 7-0 lead, temporarily silencing the cowbells.
"It was big," Malzahn said. "Trying to be aggressive, trying to find a way to take their crowd out of it. That was a big fourth down."
KEY STAT: 246 YARDS ALLOWED
Auburn's defense made a stop in the final minute to secure victory after the Bulldogs drove to the Tigers' 41.
The Tigers allowed 117 rushing yards on 33 carries, an average of 3.5 yards per carry. Auburn allowed only 129 passing yards while limiting State to a 45.7 completion percentage (16-for-35).
Eltoro Freeman recorded a team-high nine tackles, while Zac Etheridge, Aairon Savage and Josh Bynes each had six.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
"I have to give a lot of credit to [defensive coordinator] Coach Roof. He just had a great game plan going in. It was a short week. He really worked hard in getting all of the players in right spots and the right plays. The players played extremely hard. Down to the very last whistle, they played as hard as I've seen them play. You have to be able to do that to go into a place like this on the road and win a game. The adjustments by the defensive staff were really great tonight. Our players executed what we asked them to do. It won't be perfect when we look at it tomorrow, but it was good enough to win. It was a great team win." – Gene Chizik
"I huddled up the defense right before we went out for that last drive I said no matter what if the offense scores, we have to go back out there and defend, and we did that. We got pressure up front. They made good plays in the back end. Everybody went out there and played hard." – Nick Fairley
"We started off on fire. But we put our defense in some binds, I'm not going to lie. It's just a sign of a good team -- our defense stepped up and did what they had to do." - Cam Newton
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer