Mississippi State running back Josh Robinson (13) runs past Auburn linebacker Kris Frost (17) for a one yard touchdown run in their game in Starkville, Miss., Saturday, Oct 11, 2014. No. 3 Mississippi State beat No. 2 Auburn 38-23.STARKVILLE, Miss. - They have the worst all-time winning percentage among the 14 football programs in the Southeastern Conference.
They may also be the best team in America.
The No. 3 Mississippi State Bulldogs pounced for three first-quarter touchdowns against No. 2 Auburn and made them hold in a 38-23 victory Saturday at a drenched but deafening Davis Wade Stadium. The Bulldogs knocked off No. 8 LSU and No. 6 Texas A&M before Saturday's downing of the defending Southeastern Conference champions.
"To beat three top-10 teams in three straight games is pretty special," Bulldogs coach Dan Mullen said. "I don't know how many teams have done that. I don't know how many opportunities you get to do that, but I think that was pretty special for our guys. We continue to improve, and I think we played better today than we have the last couple of games, but we'll have to play better moving forward."
According to Mississippi State media relations, the Bulldogs became just the fifth team since the inception of the Associated Press poll in 1936 to defeat top-10 teams in three consecutive games. It is a meteoric accomplishment for a program whose one SEC title was clinched several days before the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
The Bulldogs, who have an all-time record of 527-555-39 but are 42-28 under Mullen, could grab the No. 1 ranking today for the first time in program history. They played their first game as a top-five team Saturday, improving to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in SEC play.
Florida State has been No. 1 all season and stayed perfect Saturday by winning at Syracuse, but the Seminoles don't have the same resume to this point as the Bulldogs.
"It would feel great if we're No. 1 in the nation, but we feel like we've been No. 1 from the get-go," Bulldogs senior defensive end Preston Smith said. "It's very special, because I always knew this would be a special team, and now we're showing the world."
Auburn dropped to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the conference. The Tigers amassed 441 yards and got a dazzling 108-yard, two-touchdown performance from junior receiver Duke Williams, but they were unable to capitalize on four first-half MSU turnovers.
Mississippi State threw interceptions on three consecutive possessions, one off a fake punt and two by Dak Prescott, but the Tigers could only come away with two short Daniel Carlson field goals.
"A big factor in this game was our red-zone offense and not being able to score touchdowns," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "We knew we would have to play well to beat them, and we did not do that."
Mississippi State grabbed a 21-0 first-quarter lead over the Tigers and has outscored LSU, Texas A&M and Auburn in the opening 15 minutes by a combined 49-7.
The Bulldogs had led every opponent this season by 20 going into the fourth quarter until Saturday, when they clung to a 28-20 advantage. An Evan Sobiesk 21-yard field goal with 11:33 remaining put MSU back up by two scores, and Auburn never gave itself a chance to rally when Ricardo Louis fumbled the ensuing kickoff.
A 1-yard touchdown run by Josh Robinson moments later made it 38-20.
Prescott completed 18 of 34 passes for 246 yards for a touchdown and rushed 21 times for 121 yards and two scores. He guided an offense that racked up 469 yards and was 8-of-17 on third-down conversions.
"This team did a great job tonight," Prescott said. "I had one of my subpar games of the season and didn't really play very well, but my teammates rallied around me."
Auburn did force Mississippi State to a three-and-out on its first possession, but the Bulldogs tallied the game's first big play when safety Jay Hughes intercepted a tipped Nick Marshall pass and returned it to Auburn's 33-yard line. Two plays lost a yard before Prescott found De'Runnya Wilson for a 34-yard touchdown pass.
The Tigers fumbled their second offensive play after Marshall found Williams for a short gain, and the Bulldogs marched 32 yards and took a 14-0 lead on Robinson's 1-yard score.
Each team will be off this coming week before Auburn hosts South Carolina and Mississippi State visits Kentucky.
"I know people are going to talk about the hype, but we're 6-0 and halfway through our regular season," Mullen said. "We're not even halfway through our SEC schedule yet, but at this point we're right where we wanted to be."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.