STARKVILLE – Senior midfielder Aeris Williams caught a short pass and took the state of Mississippi to the starting line. The Bulldogs were close to their first touchdown in more than 120 minutes of action.

Then quarterback Nick Fitzgerald plunged forward and tried to interfere in the legs. Rejected, twice. Sensing how important a touchdown would be before half-time, State fans rang the bell and asked head coach Joe Moorhead to score the fourth goal four seconds from time.

He did.

Fitzgerald ran to center a third time and the ball barely eclipsed the goal line. The touchdown and the ensuing extra point gave the Mississippi State a 10% lead in the half, and the Dogs never missed in a 23-9 win over No. 9 Auburn at Davis Wade Stadium.

"I thought it was important for us to arrive in the end zone and score a goal and gain momentum knowing that we would have the ball in the second half," he said. Moorhead.

The match strangely reflected last week's game against Florida for much of the first half. At the end of the second quarter, he even had the same score: 6-3. Then the Bulldogs (4-2, 1-2 SEC West) took the break type that had not gone against the Gators.

Auburn's ballerina turner (4-2, 1-2 SEC West) blocked a hold in the Tigers' territory and the oldest player, Joel Baldwin, ran on the ground to collapse. It was the first fumble of the season for State.

The Dogs used all remaining 4:23 in the half to take the lead over two points in Fitzgerald's one-meter run. Seven of the eight state plays played on the record were series, the theme of the evening.

All week long, Moorhead heard that MSU was leading the SEC in yards per port but was near the bottom of the league by rushed attempts. He tried to change that Saturday night.

"I think it's a little bit organic," said Moorhead. "I think once we started driving a little bit and the kids got confidence in us and we found that we were able to do it on the ground, we kind of stuck to that which worked. "

Mississippi State played the game in over 70% of cases. And unlike the Kentucky and Florida games, Fitzgerald was not the only one involved. Sophomore Kylin Hill received double-digit deductions for the first time since week 2 and for only the second time this year. He had 126 yards in 23 attempts.

Fitzgerald was always the pillar on the ground, and rightly so. With his 195 yards, he broke the record of former Florida Gator Tim Tebow's fastest quarterback in SEC history. And he did it against the best of the first seven that he has faced all season.

"Before the game, I looked at the offensive line and told them," If you win in the trenches tonight, then we'll win, "Fitzgerald said. That's exactly what they did. They went there and dominated, opening huge holes for half-offensives and for myself. "

Auburn still had a chance to hit hard, as Mississippi State had only two chances to win the match against Florida last week.

Tigers quarterback Jarrett Stidham missed an opening receiver in the second quarter for what would have been a long touchdown pass. Then, running back JaTarvious Whitlow scored 42km before entering the end zone. Mississippi State recovered in its own end zone for a touchback.

Auburn then blocked a goal placement with seven and a half minutes. The Tigers were only followed by a touchdown and had only 43 yards to mark the match, but they could not do it. State's defense stopped them in fourth place after Auburn won just 13 yards.

During what was a season of doubts and bad passes for State, the Bulldogs silenced some critics with their hasty attack and landed on the right side of the parts that changed the game. The result was a win over a top-10 opponent at Davis Wade Stadium for the first time since November 2016 and a large amount of movement as the Dogs started their farewell week.

"Hard times do not put your character to the test, they reveal it," said Moorhead, "I think our character as a team was revealed today."

Go understand

4: MSU wins its last six games in the Davis-Wade stadium against the top 10 teams.

17: Nick Fitzgerald, the quarterback of the SSM, equalized the career record held by offensive midfielder Anthony Dixon (2006-09).

18½: Jeffrey Simmons and Montez Sweat, of State, are trying to lose this season. They had four against Auburn including three bags per Sweat.

126: Kyrin Hill, his second 100-yard career, is rushing to the MSU for the second time.

2999: Fitzgerald's career was successful, outperforming Tim Tebow, a former Florida Heisman Trophy winner (2,947 yards between 2006 and 2009), who was the best quarter-total in the SEC's history. Fitzgerald is also third on the list of MSU athletes behind Dixon (3,994) and Jerious Norwood (3,212 from 2002 to 2005).