Records were once again broken as Auburn ran past Mississippi State 49-24 Saturday night in Jordan-Hare Stadium and are now 2-0, 1-0 SEC.
"Tonight, of course, it was great to get our first SEC win," Head Coach Gene Chizik said. "It was one of those games. It is a typical SEC deal. It goes back and forth and back and forth. We played with a lot of energy. I thought we answered the bell quite a few times when some adversity hit our team. I am really proud of the way our players responded to a lot of negative things that happened tonight."
The Tiger's new offense gained 589 yards to help Auburn score its most points in an SEC game since 2005.
Kodi Burns accounted for four of Auburn's touchdowns, throwing one to tight end Phillip Lutzenkirchen and running in three. Burns now has 12 career rushing touchdowns and four this season.
Ben Tate ran for 159 yards and has moved past James Bostic (1991-93) for 11th place in Auburn history in career rushing yards. Onterio McCalebb had another big night running for 120 yards becoming the first freshman to run for more than 100 in his first two games at Auburn.
"It means a lot, I would not have gotten the yards I got without the offensive line, so I have to give credit to my offensive lineman." McCalebb said.
The two running backs became the first pair of Auburn running backs to top the 100-yard rushing mark in back-to-back games.
Auburn went up 14-0 as Mississippi State quarterback Chris Relf threw a pass which was intercepted at their own 20 by defensive end Antonio Coleman and returned for a touchdown. It was his first career interception, and second career touchdown. He returned a fumble for a score in the 2007 season opener against Kansas State.
"I think that was an awesome deal," Chizik said. "That was great. Defensively, Coach (Ted) Roof and our whole defensive staff spend countless hours and countless time in practice right now trying to emphasize the turnovers and take-a-ways."
With 4:44 left to go in the second quarter, Mississippi State had scored 17 unanswered points after Robert Elliott returned a blocked Clinton Durst punt for the 17-10 lead.
On Auburn's next possession, McCalebb took a pitch around the left end 48 yards for a touchdown. Burns added a scoring run from the wildcat to give Auburn a 28-17 lead at halftime.
Mississippi State's Anthony Dixon carried 20 times for 92 yards and a score after sitting out a game suspension following a DUI arrest.
Quarterback Chris Todd was 10 for 23 for 186 yards and no interceptions.
Wide receiver Darvin Adams went more than 100 yards receiving in the first half, marking his first career 100-yard receiving game. Adams had five catches for 116 yards in the first half. He entered the game with 83 career receiving yards, including 65 last week.
Auburn will play host to the West Virginia Mountaineers next Saturday at 6:45 p.m.
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