Observations: Mississippi State 43, Auburn 34

For a quarter and a half, the Tigers were set for an emphatic bounce-back win. Then came a collapse unlike any other in program history.

(Todd Van Emst/Auburn Athletics)

A quarter and a half into Saturday’s game, the narratives for Auburn football were destined to be nice and neat.

The Tigers were up 28-3 on Mississippi State, scoring four touchdowns on four straight possessions to open the game. Bo Nix and the Auburn receivers, no longer facing a defense near the strength of a Georgia or a Texas A&M, were back to making it look easy. Auburn’s bend-don’t-break defense was proving to be the right formula to slow down Mike Leach’s Air Raid.

Auburn was about to bounce back at home and stay mathematically in contention for the SEC West title with two games to play.

What happened next was historic.

As far as any researcher in the Jordan-Hare Stadium press box could tell, Auburn had never blown a lead as big as 25 points in a loss in program history. That happened Saturday, when Mississippi State scored 40 unanswered points to turn a potential blowout loss to a multi-possession win.

It was, quite literally, a collapse unlike any…