Auburn, MSU combine for SEC's first 3-2 finish

- By JOHN ZENOR

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Airtight defense with no long balls will lead to a lot of games like this, 3-2 decisions that come down to the very last ...

Play from scrimmage?

No. 10 Auburn eked out a 3-2 win over Mississippi State -- in football, not baseball -- Saturday night that was a thing of beauty for lovers of stingy defense like Tommy Tuberville, and offensive to connoisseurs of, well, offense.

It was the first 3-2 game in a Southeastern Conference football matchup, league spokesman Charles Bloom said Sunday. It's a rarity in any league. Preliminary research from other schools and leagues came up with only six other 3-2 games, the latest a Clemson win over Duke on Oct. 16, 1965, Bloom said.

The others included two Iowa State wins over Kansas State in the 1920s, TCU over LSU in 1936 and Texas in 1960 and VMI over Kentucky in 1912.

Not exactly an offensive extravaganza to set up Auburn's showdown with No. 6 LSU.

Even a former defensive coordinator like Tuberville would have liked a little more scoring.

"I am an old defensive coach so I was liking it a little bit but I wish we had scored a few more points," the Auburn coach said. "We just wasted a few opportunities. That was a true defensive game."

Wasted opportunities. Missed field goals. Woeful third-down conversions: 0-for-14 for Mississippi State; 3-for-16 for Auburn.

Errant passes. Fumbles. The list of offensive problems is endless, but so is a chart of big defensive plays.

The biggest came on Auburn cornerback Walt McFadden's one-handed, sideline-straddling interception late in the fourth quarter. Auburn's Ben Tate and Tristan Davis had both coughed up fumbles near midfield to keep the Bulldogs' hopes alive for, say, a 5-3 win.

Auburn's normally reliable kicker Wes Byrum missed from 42 and 22 yards while hitting a 35-yarder midway through the second quarter that gave the Tigers, as it turns out, an insurmountable lead.

"I never really felt threatened last night of losing that ball game once we got ahead 3-0," Tuberville said Sunday.

Mississippi State's Adam Carlson missed a 38-yarder early in the third quarter.

Boring? Ugly? Not to the defenders.

"We were out there just flying around," Auburn cornerback Jerraud Powers said. "I know the fans didn't like that type of performance, but Mississippi State's defense thinks the same, too."

Fans and poll voters alike don't care for them. The Tigers dropped a spot in the rankings.

It was the first time Auburn had won while scoring only three points since a 3-0 win over Miami in 1974. Tuberville was still a defensive back for Southern Arkansas at the time.