NCAA FootballWeird But True

Mississippi State Knew Every Play Auburn’s Offense Tried To Run Against Them

Mississippi State overwhelmed Auburn on Saturday 28-10, though the score doesn’t quite capture the ferocious beating the Bulldogs’ defense unleashed on the Tigers. Auburn QB Kiehl Frazier threw for 125 yards (only 18 through three quarters) and three interceptions to go along with two lost fumbles.

After the game, however, Mississippi State revealed the secret to their success, which, coincidentally, had to do with Auburn’s secrets (or lack thereof). Here’s what a few of the guys had to say postgame:

Via The Dispatch:

“‘We do a great job of preparing and we knew what the play was before they ever ran them,’ [MSU defender Corey] Broomfield said. ‘That’s not a joke. We knew what they were doing, where the ball was going and who was getting it before the ball was snapped.”

“‘It makes our job as coaches so much easier when [MSU linebacker] Cam Lawrence is signaling over his head every time they were calling a pass,’ MSU co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Geoff Collins said Monday.

“‘My teammates and I got into his head and that’s one thing I’m going to do every game if you’re on offense against me,’ Lawrence said Saturday. ‘He would call out the signals and I’d tell everybody what the play was and he’d get that confused look in his face.’”

That last line there, that’s the real kicker. Football’s a chess match, albeit with freakishly sized humans for pieces, so any informed prognostication could spell disaster for the opponent. That had to be terrifying for Auburn’s QB, though we can’t imagine why Auburn couldn’t change up some of the signals on the fly.

So now the important question becomes, does the Mississippi State football program have the best opponent scouting in all of the land, or is Auburn just, well, really stupid? A little of both, probably.

[The Dispatch, via Eye On College Football]

Photo via Getty

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