It was another big win for Mississippi State Coach Sylvester Croom in his home state. Croom, the SEC's first black head coach and a former Alabama player and assistant coach, upset Alabama 24-16 last year in Tuscaloosa.

Mississippi State (2-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) had lost six straight against Auburn.

It was the second consecutive upset at home for the Tigers (1-2, 0-1), who lost to South Florida 26-23 in overtime last week.

It was a game of changing momentum. Mississippi State took an early 13-0 lead and Auburn came back to take a 14-13 halftime lead thanks to the play of freshman quarterback Kodi Burns, who saw action for the first time in his career when embattled starter Brandon Cox was benched after throwing two early interceptions.

Burns gave the Tigers a new look by running an option offense, but the Bulldogs adjusted at halftime and stopped the Tigers in the second half. After the teams swapped punts for much of the half, the Bulldogs, who lost starting quarterback Michael Henig to injury in the first quarter, drove the ball 44 yards in 10 plays, a drive that featured the running of Ducre and Anthony Dixon.

Dixon finished the game with 103 yards on 29 carries and Ducre had 63 yards on 10 carries.

After the Bulldogs went ahead, Cox came back into the game and drove the Tigers 67 yards to the Mississippi State 9, with the biggest gains coming on a 23-yard pass from Cox to Rod Smith and a 17-yard run by Ben Tate.

But on fourth down with 53 seconds to play, Cox's pass fell short of Smith in the end zone.

Mississippi State started fast against the Tigers, who shut out the Bulldogs in the last two meetings. But the Bulldogs wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, driving 58 yards in 12 plays for a 32-yard field goal by Adam Carlson.

But quarterback Michael Henig broke his throwing hand on the drive and missed the rest of the game.

Mississippi State quickly extended the lead, as Derek Pegues intercepted Cox's first pass and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown, giving the Bulldogs an early 10-0 lead and leaving the Auburn crowd stunned. It was Pegues' third career interception return for a touchdown, a Mississippi State record.

The biggest cheer from the crowd came on the first series after Cox's second interception when Burns trotted on the field. The Tigers immediately switched to an option-style offense with Burns mostly running and or handing off from the shotgun.

Mississippi State added a 30-yard field goal by Carlson early in the second quarter.

Burns got the Auburn offense moving late in the second half, leading the Tigers on a 5-play, 54-yard drive that ended with a 28-yard touchdown run by Ben Tate at 4:18 in the half.