STARKVILLE, Miss. – Tank Bigsby rushed for a career-high 192 yards, Bo Nix threw and ran for fourth-quarter touchdowns and Anders Carlson kicked three field goals to lead Auburn to a 24-10 win Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium in the Tigers' regular-season finale.
Auburn's defense intercepted two passes and made six sacks while allowing only one touchdown.
"Defensively, we played a big-time game," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "Really proud of our team getting a victory in our last SEC game. Second half with the game on the line, our guys responded. They found a way."
Gallery: (12-12-2020) Auburn 24, Mississippi State 10
Nix and Seth Williams teamed up twice on third downs on a 95-yard drive, gaining 25 yards on third-and-7 from Auburn's 8-yard line, then connecting on third-and-14 for a 32-yard touchdown pass to give Auburn a 16-3 lead with 10:03 left in the fourth quarter.
A long kickoff return led to Mississippi State's only touchdown, cutting Auburn's lead to 16-10 with 8:24 to play.
Bigsby rushed on four straight plays, gaining 57 yards, setting up Nix's 3-yard touchdown run. Nix then completed to Ze'Vian Capers for a 2-point conversion to put Auburn ahead 24-10 with 6:03 to play.
Bigsby's 192-yard performance on 26 carries is the third best by an Auburn freshman behind only Travis Tidwell's 222-yard game vs. Furman in 1946 and Tommie Agee's 219 yards vs. Maryland in 1983.
"He's done that all year," Malzahn said. "He runs violently. He breaks tackles, he's very explosive."
The Tigers' defense sealed the victory by sacking Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers three times on the Bulldogs' final two possessions. Owen Pappoe, Derick Hall and Big Kat Bryant each sacked State's QB in the closing minutes. Pappoe led the Tigers with nine tackles.
"We were able to put constant pressure on him," Malzahn said. "Our guys covered. They contested a lot of throws, and we hit them. Really proud of those guys and the effort."
Carlson kicked a pair of field goals to give Auburn a 6-3 halftime lead. Carlson's first field goal, a 27-yarder, capped a 15-play drive to make it 3-0 with 6:37 left in the first quarter.
Dre Butler recorded his first sack on the next play. Hall made two sacks. Zion Puckett and Colby Wooden also tallied sacks. Auburn held MSU to 19 rushing yards on 16 attempts.
"I thought Coach Steele did a great job of mixing stuff up," Malzahn said. "I thought our guys played with unbelievable energy. We had a pass rush. That was a huge key. Our defensive backs, they were glued on them. They contested just about every ball."
After Puckett's tackle for loss early in the second quarter led to a third-and-12, Roger McCreary intercepted Rogers' pass and returned it 28 yards to MSU's 46, but the Tigers were unable to capitalize.
After Mississippi State kicked a field goal for a 3-3 tie, Eli Stove returned the kickoff 47 yards to midfield. The Tigers punted, but Auburn's defense forced a three-and-out. Bigsby's longest run of the night, 34 yards, set up Carlson's 37-yarder gave Auburn a 6-3 lead as the first half expired.
In the third quarter Smoke Monday returned an interception 31 yards to set up Carlson's third field goal, a 45-yarder, giving Auburn a 9-3 lead.
Auburn rushed for more than 200 yards for the fifth time this season, gaining 218 yards on 36 carries.
Auburn (6-4) will await its postseason destination, in position to play in a bowl game for the eighth straight year.
"They had a very positive spirit in practices this week," Malzahn said. "They just kept answering the bell. It says a lot about their character. It says a lot about who they are as a team. We've had ups and down but they've been resilient. They just keep coming back. There's a lot of positive energy out there. It was good to win it the way we did."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
TEAM NOTES
- Captains: Big Kat Bryant, Bo Nix, Shaun Shivers
- Coin Toss: Mississippi State wins the toss and defers; Auburn will receive
- December 12 is the latest the Tigers have ever played a regular season game; previous was Auburn's 7-0 loss to No. 2 Tennessee in Knoxville to end the 1939 season on December 9. This season is the first time Auburn has played two December regular season contests
- First-time starters for Auburn: Brenden Coffey, Ladarius Tennison
- Auburn has scored in 103 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in school history
- Auburn scored first for the fifth time this season and for the 37th time in the last 54 games
- This is the Auburn defense's third game of the season with multiple interceptions (also Ole Miss, LSU)
- Auburn records its fifth 200-yard rushing game of the season
INDIVIDUAL NOTES/OFFENSE
- Seth Williams now has 2,052 career receiving yards, ranking 5th among Auburn career leaders, passing Frank Sanders (1,998 from 1991-94) and Emory Blake (2,022 from 2009-12)
- Williams is tied for 3rd in career touchdown receptions with 17, along with Darvin Adams (17 from 2008-10) and Karsten Bailey (17 from 1995-98)
- Eli Stove is 6th in Auburn career receptions with 132, passing Emory Blake (128 from 2009-12). Seth Williams ranks 8th with 127
- Anthony Schwartz is 10th in Auburn career receptions with 112, passing Rodgeriqus Smith (114 from 2004-08) and Darvin Adams (115 from 2008-10)
- Schwartz ranks 17th in Auburn career receiving yardage with 1,433 yards; next is Ronney Daniels (1,446 from 1999-2000)
- Eli Stove ranks 25th in Auburn career receiving yardage with 1,157 yards; next is Clifton Robinson (1,167 from 1997-2000)
- Tank Bigsby ranks 2nd among Auburn all-time freshman rushing leaders with 834 yards, passing Joe Frazier (651 in 1991), Travis Tidwell (772 in 1946), JaTarvious Whitlow (787 in 2018) and Bo Jackson (829 in 1982)
- Bigsby posts his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the year with a career-best 192 yards. That's the third-best rushing performance ever by an Auburn freshman, topped only by Travis Tidwell (222 vs. Furman in 1946) and Tommie Agee (219 vs. Maryland in 1983)
- Bo Nix now has 27 career touchdown passes, just one shy of the Auburn career top 10; 10th is Ben Leard (28 from 1997-2000). Nix has 11 TD passes this season
- Bo Nix to Seth Williams is now the third-most prolific pass-catching combo in Auburn history with 101 receptions, passing Dameyune Craig to Karsten Bailey (98 completions from 1995-97)
- Nix scored his 7th rushing touchdown of the season and 14th of his career
- Brandon Frazier records his first career catch
INDIVIDUAL NOTES/DEFENSE
- Roger McCreary records his third interception of the season and fourth of his career
- Smoke Monday's interception was his second of the season and fourth of his career
- Colby Wooden records his fourth sack of the season, giving him 9.5 TFL for the year
- Dre Butler records his first career sack
- Derick Hall now has 3.5 sacks for the season and his career
- Owen Pappoe records his third sack of the season and fifth of his career
- Big Kat Bryant records his third sack of the season and 10th of his career
- Smoke Monday now has 99 tackles for his career
INDIVIDUAL NOTES/SPECIAL TEAMS
- Anders Carlson is now 6th in career scoring at Auburn with 268, passing Damon Duval (266 from 1999-2002)
- Carlson is now 6th in career PAT made at Auburn with 115; next is Damon Duval (125 from 1999-2002)
- Carlson is 4th in Auburn career field goals made with 51, passing John Vaughn (50 from 2003-06)
- Eli Stove's 47-yard kickoff return was a career long and Auburn's longest of the season