Neither team could get out of its own way, and each defense took full advantage in the first half in Starkville between Auburn and Mississippi State.

You might call it a rock fight, or a baseball score, but either way, both fan bases looked for so much more from the collective offensive minds of Mike Leach, Gus Malzahn and Chad Morris. In a battle of field goals, Auburn held a 6-3 lead at halftime.

Mississippi State QB Will Rogers saw his streak of passes without an interception end at 178 attempts, when he was picked off by Roger McCreary trying to reach Osirus Mitchell.

Fans of both teams were frustrated. Mississippi State faithful impatient with the Air Raid development, or lack thereof, and Auburn fans were upset with the poor screen game. Case in point was a third down and 18 play with less than a minute remaining that went for no gain on a wide receiver screen.

With under 4 minutes remaining, the teams were 2-for-13 on third down conversions, and Auburn was 1-for-2 on fourth down.