Byrum Brown performed a little play action on Saturday afternoon, then had all day to throw the ball in giving Auburn the early lead at Mississippi State.
In a battle of unranked SEC teams who are trying to plow their way to bowl eligibility along with a winning season, it was the Tigers that got the jump on the Bulldogs in Starkville thanks to the patience of Auburn’s quarterback.
The game was pushed back from noon ET to 4:15 p.m. ET because of Friday night’s FAA ground stop, but it was better late than never, and Brown was ready when the game finally did start. After a Mississippi State fumble set Auburn up at the Bulldogs’ 38-yard line in a scoreless game, Brown went to work after a couple of running plays.
On a 1st-and-10 at the Mississippi State 26-yard line, Brown went to play action, and his offensive line gave him plenty of time to survey the field. Then he locked in on wide receiver Keshaun Singleton, finding the junior across the middle and firing a dart where only Singleton could catch it.
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It was Singleton’s 4th touchdown catch of the season, and it allowed the Tigers to draw first blood with 8:39 left in the opening quarter as they try to get that coveted 6th victory of the season while getting back to .500 in the SEC.
Here is the touchdown, which came before a field goal that gave Auburn a 10-0 first-quarter lead in Starkville:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
