Saturday, September 8, 2012

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) -- Tyler Russell threw for 222 yards and three touchdowns, Marcus Green caught two touchdown passes and Mississippi State easily beat Auburn 28-10 on Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium.

Auburn briefly took a 10-7 lead when Onterio McCalebb returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown to open the second half, but Mississippi State (2-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) responded with 21 unanswered points.

Auburn (0-2, 0-1) struggled through an awful offensive performance. Kiehl Frazier completed 13 of 22 passes for 125 yards and three interceptions.

The victory broke a string of unsavory trends for the Bulldogs. They had lost 10 out of the last 11 against Auburn -- including four straight -- and hadn't won an SEC opener since 1999.

It was also coach Dan Mullen's first victory against the SEC Western Division's best four teams. He was 0-12 combined against Alabama, LSU, Arkansas and Auburn until Saturday's breakthrough.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press