Rivals.com is partnered with Pro Football Focus to provide analytical data from distilled from film review of Auburn games.

These grades generally dovetail with Auburn's official grades, which carry much more weight but also aren't available for public dissemination. Still, PFF analysts understand the game and can provide a reasonably good snapshot of how the Tigers fared on an individual basis.

Here are the results from Auburn's 56-23 victory over the Mississippi State Bulldogs ...

TOP OVERALL GRADES: OFFENSE (minimum 15 snaps)
QB Bo Nix, 80.4
LT Prince Tega Wanogho, 80.3
WR Seth Williams, 76.8
WR Anthony Schwartz, 73.7
WR Will Hastings, 67.7

TOP OVERALL GRADES: DEFENSE (minimum 15 snaps)
DE Marlon Davidson, 78.1
DT Derrick Brown, 72.3
CB Roger McCreary, 70.7
LB Chandler Wooten, 69.1
DE Caleb Johnson, 68.9

DEFENSE NOTES

• The NOAH IGBINOGHENE IRON MAN AWARD goes to, who else, Noah Igbinoghene. That's five in a row for the junior from Hewitt-Trussville High School. He played 47 of a possible 64 snaps, which, as usual, was tops among Auburn players. The next in line? McCreary (41 snaps), Big Kat Bryant (35), Jeremiah Dinson (35) and Derrick Brown (34).

• PFF keeps track of a stat called STOPS, which is defined as a tackle that "constitutes a failure for the offense." Defensive coordinator Kevin Steele loves STOPS like Gus loves his clipboard. Marlon Davidson, K.J. Britt and Wooten led the way Saturday with three STOPS apiece. Britt and Davidson are tied atop the SEASON LEADER BOARD with 13 STOPS apiece. Those two young men have been a real menace to opposing offenses.

• Davidson led the team with a 76.6 grade for RUN DEFENSE specifically. Next best was Igbinoghene at 72.5.

• McCreary led the team with an 68.1 grade in COVERAGE DEFENSE specifically. Next best was Dinson at 66.3. The truth is that PFF was not at all enamored with the Tigers' coverage against the Bulldogs; a team COVERAGE DEFENSE GRADE of 49.2 is the lowest of the season — by 20 points! I'm a little confused by that low score insofar as MSU wasn't exactly killing it through the air (13-of-26 for 216 yards and two touchdowns). My guess is that PFF expects every defense to create turnovers and that's one thing this defense really hasn't accomplished this season. We're five games in and Auburn has ONE interception.

• LB Owen Pappoe was charged with a team-high two missed tackles.

• McCreary was targeted a team-high five times Saturday. He conceded two receptions for 29 yards. He also was credited with two pass break-ups. That's a terrific night.

• Igbinoghene was targeted once. He didn't concede the reception.

• S Daniel Thomas was targeted twice, conceded two receptions for 62 yards. That's not quite as good.

• Technically speaking, this probably was the best overall game from the defensive front. MSU is built to run, it tried to run and simply couldn't get much of anything going. The linebackers were terrific, yes, but a significant portion of that excellence is rooted in the defensive line's ability to HOLD GAPS and allow linebackers (plus Dinson/Thomas) to attack downhill cleanly, without much second-level resistance. Everything starts up front.

OFFENSE NOTES
• 71 snaps for the Tigers. The tempo seemed fairly hot during the first half — when it mattered.
• This was Wanogho's best game of the season. He was giving the Bulldogs hell as a wrapper on those GT Counters and as the second tackle in those unbalanced formations. He allowed two pressures in 27 pass pro snaps, but they didn't really matter in the context of those two individual snaps. Wanogho was really good Saturday.
• Freshman TE Luke Deal made his debut on offense with six late snaps. Remember that he suffered a torn ACL during Auburn's bowl practices in December.
• Freshman RB D.J. Williams made his offensive debut as well Saturday, getting 12 snaps. He earned seven carries for 32 yards — making a solid case for more playing time in the near future.
• PFF really liked what guards Marquel Harrell and Mike Horton accomplished in PASS BLOCK, giving them a pair of 86.1 grades in that category.
• Auburn's top RUN BLOCK guy, regardless of playing time, was WR Marquis McClain. He earned a 89.7 grade for his 11-snap night. Wanogho led the way among regulars with a 76.5 grade.
• Auburn again had a preference on run direction — 15 runs to the right, 11 to the left.
• Seth Williams led the team with nine targets. He caught eight of those passes.
• Schwartz and Hastings were next in line with three targets apiece.
• Bo Nix showed massive improvement with his deep throws Saturday, going 7-of-8 beyond 10 yards. He was 0-for-5 on those throws last week against Texas A&M.
• Nix was 6-of-7 on throws between the hashes, which included three completions at or behind the line of scrimmage.
• Williams was the only receiver credited with breaking a tackle. He broke two.

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