Defending national champion Auburn nearly blew a 14-point, fourth-quarter lead Saturday, using a last-second defensive stand to hold off No. 17 Mississippi State 41-34 in the SEC opener for both teams at Auburn.

Michael Dyer rushed for two touchdowns and Barrett Trotter passed for two scores for the 22nd-ranked Tigers (2-0, 1-0 SEC), who extended their winning streak to 17 games.

Down 41-27 with 14:03 left, the Bulldogs (1-1, 0-1) pulled within 41-34 on Vick Ballard’s 3-yard touchdown run with 4:51 left. The Bulldogs marched to the Auburn 1 with 18 seconds left. Ballard was stuffed on first down for a 1-yard loss.

Mississippi State quarterback Chris Relf rushed left on second down, but Ryan Smith upended him just shy of the goal line on the final play of the game. The Bulldogs were out of timeouts and time expired.

In a game of runs, the Tigers scored 14 points in the game’s first 3:21. After the Bulldogs took a 21-14 lead, Auburn scored 17 unanswered points in the final nine minutes of the second quarter, taking a 31-24 halftime lead. Trotter’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Philip Lutzenkirchen made it 41-27 with 14:03 left.

Dyer rushed for 150 yards, and Emory Blake caught seven passes for 108 yards for Auburn. Ballard rushed for 135 yards. Relf added 106 yards rushing and passed for 195 yards.

Auburn plays four of its next six on the road, including trips to Clemson next Saturday, No. 12 South Carolina (Oct. 1), No. 14 Arkansas (Oct. 8) and No. 2 LSU (Oct. 22).

Mississippi State plays host to LSU on Thursday. The Bulldogs lost starting left tackle James Carmon to injury in the second quarter, and starting center Quentin Saulsberry left the game with an injury in the fourth quarter.