After struggling to stop Alabama and Texas A&M, the Auburn defense responded, limiting the potent air raid offense to just 240 total yards and 10 points.

The only Mississippi State drive that ended in a touchdown started at the Auburn 29-yard line after the 65-yard kickoff return.

“They were very impressive,” Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn said about the defense. “Like I said, that quarterback has been really playing well, now, in two road games. But we were able to put constant pressure on him and make him uncomfortable. That's what we talked about. He threw two interceptions. He's been taking care of the ball really well.”

Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers came into the game passing for over 700 yards and four touchdowns in his last two games, but Auburn held him to 221 yards, one touchdown and intercepted him twice.

Roger McCreary had Auburn’s first interception in the second quarter while Smoke Monday snagged the second interception in the third quarter.

“And our guys covered. I mean, our guys covered. They contested a lot of throws, even the ones that they caught. And we hit them. I mean, it looked like an Auburn defense. Real proud of those guys and the effort they had tonight.”

Auburn also totaled six sacks on the night.

Third down defense has been an issue that’s plagued the Tigers all season long, but against Mississippi State, the Bulldogs completed 4-of-16 third-down attempts.

“First of all, third down, that’s—our guys really responded,” Malzahn said. “I know they’re tired of hearing ‘third-down defense whatever,’ but tonight they responded in a big way against a team that’s pretty solid on third down.”

Despite the two losses and rough outings defensively, Derick Hall and the Auburn defense came out looking to make a statement in the regular-season finale.

“It was nothing different, man,” Hall said about the game plan. “We just put our heads together and knew that this was the last one, last one for this team in 2020, for the 2020 season, last regular-season game, last one for the seniors. Just coming in and being able to execute the plan we put in front of us and being able to play Auburn football and play Auburn defense. That was part of the plan, and we just put our heads together and decided what we wanted to do -- and we did it.”

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