Auburn had no answer to Mississippi State's hard-hitting defense, amassing just 216 total yards of offense in its 28-10 SEC opener defeat at Scott Field in Starkville, Miss.
And just like that, the Tigers are 0-2 for the first time since 2003.
Auburn struggled from the beginning, allowing a 65-yard Bulldogs drive on the opening possession of the game, but the defense was able to muster up a stop in the end, forcing Mississippi State (2-0, 1-0) to settle for a field goal.
"They were on their game, we weren't," Auburn coach Gene Chizik said.
Luckily for the visitors, kicker Devon Bell also had a less than perfect day, missing a 36-yarder wide left, leaving the score tied at 0-0.
But Auburn's real problems came on the other line of scrimmage.
Sophomore quarterback Kiehl Frazier and the Tiger offense let their inexperience shine for all to see.
The squad looked nervous, out of place and disoriented.
In 30 minutes of play, Frazier went 1 for 7 for minus-2 yards, completing more passes to Mississippi State players than his own.
Cornerback Johnthan Banks picked off two passes in the second quarter alone, giving him 14 interceptions on his career, the most for an active player in the Football Bowl Subdivision and just six shy of the SEC record.
Despite all of its offensive problems, Auburn lit up the scoreboard first after Cody Parkey sailed a 23-yard field goal through the uprights, giving the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
It took Bulldogs' quarterback Tyler Russell less than three minutes to respond, connecting with Marcus Green for a 30-yard touchdown pass.
Auburn's next possession ended with Banks' first interception of the day, giving Mississippi State the ball on the Auburn 34-yardline with 6:45 to go in the half.
A 10-yard illegal block penalty coupled with solid defense on Auburn's end forced the Bulldogs to try for another field goal, this time from 43 yards out.
Bell's kick barely got off the ground before Angelo Blackson got a hand on it, and so the score remained 7-3 going into halftime.
Auburn started the second half with a bang when senior running back Onterio McCalebb returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, briefly putting the Tigers up 10-7.
After McCalebb's miracle run, it was all Mississippi State, lighting Auburn up for 21 unanswered points.
"Obviously I thought it was a very dismal performance," Chizik said. "At halftime and coming out and returning the opening kick-off and taking the lead was a positive for our team and pretty much everything after that we went south. We have to look at it tomorrow and get it fixed."
Frazier finished the day completing 13 of 22 passes for 125 yards, three interceptions and two lost fumbles.
Bulldogs' quarterback Russell finished 20 of 29 for 222 yards with no interceptions.
"When he had time at the end he was throwing the ball and he looked like what we expect from Kiehl," Chizik said. "But that's at the end. It's too little too late. There are a number of reasons. I can't go back without looking at the film and point all the fingers at Kiehl. Obviously he did not play well today. Now, why that is and what the reasons are for that could be there were a lot of other errors in there as well. To say that everything was his fault, I don't know if I could say that, but as we all saw, he certainly needs to play much better."
The outcome may not have been what the Auburn family had hoped, but the team is confident in its ability to snap-back.
"It's just two losses," senior tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen said. "One loss in this league can get you a championship, so we're still fighting. We're hungry. Look at what Georgia did last year going 0-2 their first two games. Everybody kind of wrote them off and they made it all the way to the SEC Championship. You know, it's disappointing right now. Our heads are down, but we're not out. We just have to keep grinding."
Frazier reiterated the 6-5, 255 pound tight end's statement, saying it's too early to count this team out.
"We're not going to get discouraged," Frazier said. "We still have 10 more games to go. We're 0-2 right now, but we just have to turn that around and get going."
Auburn will look to collect its first win of the season against Louisiana-Monroe in its home opener Sept. 15 at 11:21 a.m. CT.
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