Mississippi State Finally Defeats Auburn : SEC: Sixty-one yard touchdown run by Roberts with 1:49 left gives Bulldogs first victory over Tigers in 10 years.

Mississippi State’s Kenny Roberts carried the ball only once Saturday against Auburn.

But that was all it took for Mississippi State to beat Auburn for the first time since 1981.

Roberts ran 61 yards for a touchdown with 1:49 left to give Mississippi State a 24-17 Southeastern Conference victory.

“We had run the option before and saw how their defense reacted,” said Roberts, who also caught three passes. “We just came back and ran the same play and fortunately it worked.”

It was a bitter loss for Auburn, which is 4-3 overall, 2-2 in the SEC and reeling from an NCAA investigation into allegations that players had received illegal payments.

The Tigers, who had five turnovers, severely hurt their bowl chances and now face a losing season for the first time since 1981 with three ranked teams still left to play.

“It’s one of the toughest losses we’ve suffered,” Auburn Coach Pat Dye said.

Auburn had staged a dramatic comeback after falling behind, 17-3, and tied the score, 17-17, on Reid McMilion’s one-yard run with 4:09 left.

The Tigers could have taken the lead, but Jim Von Wyl missed the extra point.

“Our spirits and emotions were down (after McMilion’s touchdown), but Auburn gave us a lift by missing the extra point,” Mississippi State linebacker Danny Boyd said. “That really gave the team a lift.”

On the next possession, Roberts took a pitch from quarterback William Robinson at the Bulldog 39-yard line. Roberts cut outside, eluded two tacklers and outraced a defender to the end zone to hand Auburn its first back-to-back losses at home since 1978.

“A mature football team, when it misses an extra point, will go out there and do something to get the ball back,” Dye said. “I’m not sure what happened on that long run.”

Mississippi State (5-3, 2-2) put itself back in bowl contention following a disappointing 28-23 loss to Memphis State last week.

“Any time you have the opportunity to win against Auburn in this environment, it is a big, big plus and a great, great feeling to do that,” Mississippi State Coach Jackie Sherrill said. “Our players came back and played hard and things kept happening.

“I’m very excited about this football team because we’re in position now to move forward.”

Mississippi State appeared poised for an easy victory after Jerome Brown intercepted a pass by Stan White and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter to give the Bulldogs a 17-3 lead.

But White redeemed himself on the next possession, directing a six-play, 54-yard drive for Auburn’s first touchdown.

He ended the drive with a five-yard bootleg around right end. Joe Frazier ran in the two-point conversion to cut Mississippi State’s lead to 17-11 with 13:26 left.

Auburn wasted a chance to go ahead, losing 21 yards after Corey Barlow blocked a punt at the Mississippi State 19.

But the Tigers got another break after punting the ball when Mike Pina recovered a fumble by Michael Davis at the 11 to set up McMilion’s short touchdown run.

Von Wyl, who earlier missed a 31-yard field-goal attempt, silenced the home crowd of 82,214 when he pushed his extra point just outside the right upright to leave the score tied.