Auburn's streak gone; UGA trying to end theirs

AUBURN, Ala. - Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom isn't sure he likes being the first team Auburn plays after the Tigers' winning streak ended.

"I am sure the players that were part of that streak are going to be constantly reminded of it," Croom said. "It also puts them in a position where they want to get another streak started and we are first up so we have to do our part to make sure that does not happen."

The Bulldogs (1-0) have some streaks they'd like to see fade into history like the Tigers' winning binge, starting with Saturday's visit to Jordan-Hare Stadium in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.

Georgia Tech snapped Auburn's 15-game winning streak, ending the feel-good mood lingering from last season's 13-0 record. The Tigers didn't look like a team likely to compete for the Southeastern Conference title much less a national championship.

The No. 15 is equally significant to Mississippi State. That's how many games in a row the Bulldogs have lost to SEC Western Division opponents. And it's how many consecutive SEC West road games they've lost, dating back to an 18-16 win over Auburn in 1999.

Plus, no SEC team can top the Bulldogs' 12-game road losing streak.

But Tigers coach Tommy Tuberville said he's been "very impressed" with how Croom has brought the team along since Auburn's 48-14 win last season, a game that was even more lopsided than the final score.

"You can tell he is taking it in small steps," Tuberville said. "Each game last year, they got better. They were very competitive.

"We were fortunate that we had a chance to play them very early and caught them before they got in a groove."

Judging from last week's uneven performance against Tech, the Bulldogs might be catching Auburn before it gets in a groove too.

Whatever mystique the Tigers had from last season's perfect run was wiped out by a blitzing Georgia Tech defense and Auburn's mistake-heavy performance that knocked them out of the Associated Press rankings.

Forget 13-0, they're 0-1 now.

Croom, at least, is still touting the Tigers.

"As far as I am concerned they are just as good as Southern Cal last year," said Croom, whose team is a two-touchdown underdog. "I don't see a weakness on their team right now even though they lost the game the other night."

Except maybe for a turnover-prone offense, an untested running game and a defense that looked vulnerable early against Georgia Tech before rebounding.

Auburn tailback Kenny Irons thinks the loss is "like a kick in the butt for us."

"It was a disappointing night, but you have to understand that for some teams you might have to lose a game to realize everything is not going to be handed to you," Irons said. "You just can't go off last season."

Auburn defensive end Stanley McClover is hoping the defense makes a better second impression.

"We aren't going to do too much talking," McClover said. "We're going to go out and show the world that we had a rough first game but we have 11 more games to play," McClover said. "We can always make another impression."