Mississippi State defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon is accepting the blame for his team’s struggles.

“Well, I have to do a better job of coaching and getting the defense designed to get executed,” Sirmon told 247Sports Tuesday. “It’s really where we’re at right now. It comes back to me doing a better job of coaching and communicating what we need happen defensively. Ultimately it is my responsibility to get those guys to do exactly what we are asking them to do in terms of preparation, what I’m calling, what I am practicing, who we are putting in the game. So it is a big task. I have to do a better job. I have to do a better job for the players, do a better job for the university and do a better job for myself.

Mississippi State allowed 35 points in the first half of Saturday’s 38-14 loss to Auburn. The Bulldogs have allowed 400-plus total yards and 35-plus points in each of their last two games, as well as 26.2 points and 371.4 yards per game in 2016.