Here's how my advance for the Auburn-Mississippi State game starts in today's paper:

AUBURN, Ala. — Josh Bynes didn’t quite know how to feel.

Yes, Auburn had just beaten Mississippi State, eking out a bizarre 3-2 win in Starkville, Miss., last year, the Tigers’ defense standing tall time and time again after the offense repeatedly put it in unfavorable situations.

But something about that score was unsettling.

“It was kind of awkward,” the linebacker said. “A win is a win, but we were like: ‘Three to two?’”

What at the time was thought to be a hard-fought battle between two stalwart defenses in hindsight appears to be the natural result when two hapless offenses square off.

It marked the beginning of the end for two regimes, emblematic of Sylvester Croom’s offensively-challenged five years at Mississippi State and a precursor to Tony Franklin’s soon-to-be ouster from the Plains.

A year later and with Gene Chizik and Dan Mullen now leading the programs, Auburn and Mississippi State both feel confident about the direction of their respective offenses heading into their SEC opener tonight at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

To read the whole thing, click here.

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