In the end, it wasn’t about revenge. Yes, Auburn still remembered the embarrassment of last season in Starkville, when Mississippi State put up 349 rushing yards on the Tigers and made them look weak, but there was something more going on on Saturday night in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Auburn, and coach Gus Malzahn, didn’t just want to dominate. The Tigers wanted wanted to put their foot on the throat of the Bulldogs and send a message to Alabama, Georgia and LSU: We are here, and you are going to have to deal with this.

Within six minutes (plus a second), the outcome of the game was already decided. Auburn had scored three touchdowns on just eight offensive plays. But yet, this wasn’t enough. Before coach Joe Moorhead could take the Bulldogs into the locker room and try to calm them and collect their thoughts, Malzahn went for the hammer.

The result? Two Bobbie Whitlow touchdown runs (one with 12 seconds left in the half) surrounding a 39-yard touchdown pass to Seth Williams from Bo Nix. Auburn went into the half up 42-9, and yet …

… Well, Malzahn wanted more. The play-calling stayed aggressive, with Nix going downfield and eventually finding Williams on a 32-yard pass on which only the guy who caught can ever describe how he did it. That made it 49-9, the rout was on and it seemed that, if needed, the Tigers could put up points at will.

Yet it isn’t the 56-23 final score that made heads turn. It was, quite simply, how easy it was for the Tigers to build that margin of defeat. Anybody watching in the stands or on TV could see how smoothly Malzahn’s offense ran in the first 30 minutes. Nix, always growing as both a quarterback and leader, ran the run-pass offense proficiently. When asked to pass, Nix found the receivers he wanted.

But it wouldn’t be a complete team effort without the defense. Do not think for one second that this unit, with Kevin Steele leading the way, weren’t reminded of what happened almost a year earlier to the day in Starkville. As Malzahn put it, the Tigers were “embarrassed” in that 23-9 loss.

Saturday, the Auburn defense came out wanting to put a mark on the Bulldogs. Mississippi State, even with Auburn playing reserves most of the fourth quarter, ended up with just 118 rushing yards, 3.1 per carry.

Passing? Between Tommy Stevens, who went out with an injury, and Garrett Shrader, the Bulldogs finished with a 50% completion rate.

Even Malzhan, who keeps everything close to the vest, will enjoy this victory after the debacle last year, but the focus now turns to a top-10 showdown this Saturday in Gainesville against Florida.

Auburn already has two wins against top-25 teams. With plenty of high-ranked opponents still on the schedule, Malzahn and company can’t make a mistake. As for this week, the Tigers have shown the SEC, and the rest of the college football world, that they are a force to be dealt with.

Game on.