Thursday night's game wasn't quite the offensive showcase everybody thought it was going to be. Here's a sneak peak at how tomorrow's game story starts:

STARKVILLE, Miss. — With its All-SEC left tackle and starting running back sidelined by injuries, Auburn's offense had plenty of issues, even before it took into account the deafening noise of 55,000 constantly clanging cowbells.

It's a good thing the Tigers' much-maligned defense came to the rescue.

No. 20 Auburn's defense silenced its critics with an inspired performance in the SEC opener, holding Mississippi Sate scoreless for the final 24 minutes of the Tigers' 17-14 nail-biter of a victory Thursday night at Davis Wade Stadium.

"There are a lot of experts out there," oft-criticized Auburn defensive coordinator Ted Roof said. "I was really proud of how hard they fought together and hung together. It wasn't always pretty, but to hold them to 240 yards, I'm really proud of that."

Auburn quarterback Cam Newton was the offensive star for the second straight week, throwing for two first-half touchdowns and accounting for 208 total yards. But when Gus Malzahn's high-octane offense stalled after halftime, Roof's beleaguered defensive unit saved the day.

There's your taste. Read the full thing by clicking here. But we'll hit some bullet points before we call it a night:

• Auburn (2-0, 1-0 SEC) has won 17 of its last 18 SEC openers.

• How good was the defense? MSU finished with 246 yards. After the Bulldogs scored to cut the lead to 17-14, the Tigers allowed only 73 yards over the next five drives, forcing three three-and-outs. "I've got to give a lot of credit to coach Roof," Auburn head coach Gene Chizik said. "He had a great game plan going on. He worked hard on getting the right players in the right spot. They played as hard as I've seen them play."

• That said, Auburn certainly lucked out that Leon Berry didn't catch that gimme pass up the sideline on third-and-10 of the final drive. MSU would have been inside the Auburn 15 and well within field goal range had Berry reeled it in. Dan Mullen was extremely frustrated by his team's five drops afterward.

• Who's the star of the game? Defensive tackle Nick Fairley. Five tackles, three quarterback hurries, 2.5 tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks, one interception and one fumble recovery. "Is that hitting for the cycle in football?" Roof joked.

• The defense hounded MSU quarterbacks Chris Relf and Tyler Russell, getting three sacks and four quarterback hurries, almost all of it by Auburn's four down defensive linemen. The QBs combined to go 16-for-35 for 129 yards and an interception.

• Other defensive standouts: Eltoro Freeman had a team-high nine tackles and one TFL. Zach Etheridge and Aairon Savage had six tackles apiece.

• LB Josh Bynes had a strong day, finishing with six tackles and a quarterback hurry. "There's a lot of value in a guy who can run the operation," Roof said. "He's becoming more of a physical linebacker. That Alabama game last year was a turning point. He's hard on himself and that's a wonderful thing."

• Injuries. There were a couple. LT Lee Ziemba went down in the second quarter with a right knee injury. He didn't return, watching the second half in street clothes. If there's any good news for Auburn in this deal, it's that Ziemba was walking on the sideline without the aid of crutches. Remember, Ziemba's got a career starts record he's chasing. It'll be interesting to see if he can go. At least he has nine days to rest up. By the way, Brandon Mosley filled in for him at left tackle. Good thing the Tigers created some depth this preseason.

• RB Mario Fannin looked like he went down with a stinger in his left shoulder after a hard collision in the fourth quarter. He didn't have pads on near the end, so getting back in the game was out of the question.

• Offensively, it was a good first half for Auburn. Newton threw touchdown passes to Emory Blake and Darvin Adams. He also ran for 59 of his team-high 70 yards. But Auburn's offense only gained 133 yards in the second half and failed to score. MSU got a little wiser to Newton's designed runs and nearly jumped a wide receiver screen for a pick-six. It seemed like the Tigers were out of sorts in their play-calling, something you don't normally see.

• Your running back tally: Onterio McCalebb 12 carries, 68 yards; Mike Dyer 9 carries, 48 yards; Fannin 5 carries, 6 yards. Yes, it certainly appears as though Fannin will not get the bulk of carries this year. And it should be noted, when Auburn was trying to run out the clock at the end, it was Dyer who got the ball. He reeled off two nice, long runs at the start of the drive too.

• Another game, another muffed punt. The coaches kept Quindarius Carr in the game afterward and he cleanly fielded a few more, but that's got to be nerve-racking for the coaches.

• Freshman WR Trovon Reed was here but didn't play. Don't know if the injury or circumstances kept him out of action.

• It'll be interesting to see if Mississippi State gets the full $50,000 fine for its fans ringing those cowbells at unauthorized times. They didn't even come close to following the guidelines, which, quite honestly, was the most predictable thing to happen on the night. I wonder how quickly the SEC will revisit MSU's noisemaker exemption.

• Final thought from Chizik: "It won't be perfect when we look at it tomorrow, but it was good enough."