Mississippi State-Auburn halftime notes and thoughts

STARKVILLE, Miss. – If you enjoy your football with plenty of offense well, the first half of Mississippi State-Auburn hasn't been for you. The Bulldogs and Tigers have headed to the locker room after two quarters of play with MSU trailing Auburn 6-3.

On the Mississippi State side, defensive coordinator Zach Arnett continues his magic. The Bulldogs have limited the Tigers to only 151 yards of offense and have constantly pressured Auburn quarterback Bo Nix all night long. MSU is certainly doing enough on the defensive end of things to come out victorious tonight.

However offensively, it appears the Bulldogs have regressed. After two showings – first at Georgia then at Ole Miss – where it appeared MSU had finally figured some things out on the offensive side, the Bulldogs looked more like their October/early-November selves in the first half Saturday. State had only 78 yards of total offense and was only 1-of-7 on third-down conversion attempts.

Where do things go from here? Well we'll soon see. Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn's job could very well be on the line over these next 30 minutes of football. Does that make the Tigers play tight or conservatively? Can MSU keep doing what it's doing defensively and find just enough offense to pull this one out. We'll find out together. For now, here's a few other first-half notes.

A hurt Heath

Mississippi State wide receiver Malik Heath suffered what appeared to be a possible hamstring injury late in the second quarter. MSU quarterback Will Rogers threw a pass to the end zone in Heath's direction and Heath came up lame, favoring the back of his left leg. Trainers checked on Heath in the sideline medical tent before Heath was seen peddling the exercise bike on the sideline for much of the rest of the first half. His status for the rest of the game is presently unknown.

Seeing yellow

There's been nearly as much penalty yardage as yards of total offense so far. Both the Bulldogs and Tigers have dealt with a fair share of yellow laundry on the field. Mississippi State has been penalized four times for 55 yards. Auburn has had six penalties, costing the Tigers 70 yards. Doing the math, that's 125 yards worth of penalty yardage while the two teams have only accumulated a total of 229 yards of total offense.

The pups keep playing

It's no secret that opt-outs, transfers, injuries and more have caused Mississippi State to heavily rely on youth and inexperience this season. That trend is continuing against Auburn. True freshman running back Dillon Johnson and true freshman receiver Lideatrick Griffin both made their first career starts on Saturday. So, too, did sophomore running back Lee Witherspoon and redshirt junior defensive back Jay Jimison. Those four players give the Bulldogs a Southeastern Conference-leading 25 first-time starters through nine games this year.

Costello apparently available

As noted here on Cowbell Corner pregame, quarterback K.J. Costello is apparently available tonight if needed. He participated in pregame warm-ups and is dressed and ready to go. Costello hasn't played since suffering an apparent head injury at Alabama on October 31. Costello started the first five games of the season prior to his injury.

Seniors honored

Mississippi State honored its senior players prior to Saturday's game, along with the graduate transfer Costello. Of note, four seniors didn't participate. Those included wide receivers Osirus Mitchell and JaVonta Payton, as well as safeties C.J. Morgan and Fred Peters. That's notable as with the NCAA declaring this season doesn't count against a player's eligibility, all seniors have the option of returning for the 2021 campaign.

𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗞 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗢𝗥𝗦 🖤 pic.twitter.com/5yZquma8rc
— Mississippi State Football (@HailStateFB) December 13, 2020

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