Auburn Wins With Defense, Conservative Offense for a Change

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Auburn is supposed to score points. Lots and lots of points.

Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn spent 10 minutes Thursday afternoon walking the field at Davis Wade Stadium. He paced slowly from sideline to sideline with no sidekick in tow, mumbling notes to himself about every scenario his unit could face.

Yet he didn't see this one coming.

Auburn earned a 17-14 win against Mississippi State with defense Thursday night.

It was an odd twist for a team that dedicates so many resources toward offensive supremacy. All the innovation and trickery and misdirection meant almost nothing against an MSU defense that was fast enough to mess with Malzahn's group.

"We put a lot of faith in our defense," wideout Darvin Adams said. "We had a lot of anxiety, but the defense ultimately came through for our offense."

Auburn typically starts quickly. Thursday was no exception.

An array of runs from quarterback Cam Newton forced Mississippi State to reconsider its defensive strategy. A perfectly executed screen pass to wideout Emory Blake -- complete with crushing blocks from Terrell Zachery and Kodi Burns -- yielded a 39-yard touchdown.

Then the tenor changed.

The Tigers' second possession included three off-guard runs from shifty tailback Onterio McCalebb. There was no imagination. No innovation. No nothing.

It was a wasted possession. More were on the way.

Defensive tackle Nick Fairley gave the Tigers hope, though, by creating a pair of turnovers. His second quarter interception near midfield prefaced a touchdown drive.

His second quarter fumble recovery prefaced a field goal.

Auburn led 17-7 at halftime, but things felt odd. Malzahn was vigilant throughout the 2009 season about using a variety of players in featured offensive roles.

His idea was simple: make defenses monitor multiple players.

Malzahn no longer was willing to diversify. He has made Newton the focal point, which is no surprise considering the junior once was considered Tim Tebow's successor at Florida and led his junior college team to a national title last fall.

Still, Newton was Auburn's leading rusher on Thursday. Again.

Newton threw the ball only sparingly. Again.

Strategy played a role. Mississippi State quarterback Chris Relf, who grew up 45 minutes west of Auburn, is a known quantity to Gene Chizik and his staff. They concluded Thursday that Relf didn't have the passing ability to pull his team from behind.

So Auburn began making safe decisions on offense. It guarded its lead.

Most schools wouldn't give that approach a second thought.

At Auburn, though, it's alarming.

"There are times when if we don't feel like the wearing-down effect is happening, then we have to manage the game clock," Chizik said. "We have the capability to do both. At times during the game, we slowed it down. At times we went on normal pace. We just kind of mixed it up in there."

With Auburn's offense molded into a one-dimensional enterprise, Mississippi State was given a chance to thrive.

It looked prepared to seize that opportunity after halftime.

That's when the home team opened the third quarter with a 12-play drive that made a statement. The Bulldogs tucked away their spread tendencies and instead aimed their rushing attack at the middle of Auburn's defense.

It worked.

No, it thrived.

Mississippi State pushed through the Tigers' defensive front with ease and eventually pulled to within three points. A renaissance seemed imminent.

The Bulldogs had identified a weakness.

With that in mind, coach Dan Mullen called for an on-side kick. His team recovered. He now had a monopoly on momentum.

MSU's next three plays?

Incomplete pass. Incomplete pass. Incomplete pass.

"Every time we hit the high note, nobody made the play," Mullen said. "We have to explode on a team. If you are going to win in the Southeastern Conference, you have to explode and make those plays."

Mullen's team had one final drive ahead.

The setting seemed perfect: two minutes left, loud crowd, cowbells clanging, players aware of the moment's meaning.

And MSU passed. Again and again and again.

Relf converted a 4th-and-3 with a perfect throw to Arceto Clark. Maybe Mullen was on to something.

Then it all unraveled. Relf missed five of his next six passes. Two of them were dropped.

That's a terminal issue.

"It's not red flags to me," Mullen said. "Offense is about getting in a rhythm and you are sitting there and you are dropping passes. We take a shot and it would be off of someone's fingertips. Those are the things that are going to affect you. That was the difference."

Auburn will face more questions.

Chizik's team is older. It's ranked. Expectations are higher. Newton has emerged as one of the nation's most dynamic offensive performers.

What happened Thursday night will be explained away as a strategic dumbing-down of an offense that needed to keep the clock running. It's a plausible notion.

That doesn't mean it's the truth.

Malzahn, at his core, is an innovator. He wants to score points.

Seventeen at Mississippi State -- along with only 348 yards -- doesn't quench his thirst. When he takes the field a few hours before Auburn's game against Clemson next weekend, he'll again mumble to himself while pondering the immediate future.

He won't be in a good mood.

Jay G. Tate covers Auburn for the Montgomery Advertiser. Check out his blog, the Hottest Auburn Blog on The Net.