AUBURN, Ala. — Will Rogers played the first half of Saturday’s game at No. 17 Auburn like the young quarterback he is.

The sophomore was “antsy” and “frantic,” according to Mississippi State coach Mike Leach. His feet were “all over the place,” and so was his accuracy.

“I thought he kind of sprayed the ball,” Leach said.

At one point during the second quarter, Rogers was 12 of 20 for just 62 yards as the Bulldogs trailed the Tigers 21-3. In a tough road atmosphere, he seemed a bit like the freshman quarterback of a season ago, the one who looked understandably prepared to play in the Southeastern Conference.

Then Rogers performed like the Southeastern Conference was unprepared to play him.

The quarterback had another career game in a sophomore season full of them, tossing five touchdown passes in the second half alone in Mississippi State’s 43-34 victory. Rogers finished 44 of 55 passing for 415 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions.

In doing so, he shattered another school record with the most passing touchdowns in a single game.

“It’s just a blessing, man,” Rogers said. “I can’t put it into words. I’m living the dream just being able to be the quarterback for this university. It’s just a blessing, and I’m thankful for it every single day.”

The Brandon High School product struggled last year and early this season to make deeper throws down the field — not often required in Leach’s Air Raid offense — but has seemed to solve that problem of late. The sophomore has done everything asked of him with remarkable efficiency, entering the day third in the nation in passing yards and superseding his average Saturday.

“He’s been playing really, really well,” linebacker Aaron Brule said. “Just knowing that he’s behind us and we’re behind him 100 percent gives us a lot of confidence going into each game to know that we can win.”

Rogers has helped carry the Bulldogs to four wins over teams that have spent time in the top 25 this season, including three who were ranked at the time. Saturday marked the second of each on the road.

But Leach pointed out that Rogers had “help” in taking down the Tigers, and he certainly did. Ten receivers caught at least one pass from the sophomore, and four of them — Makai Polk and Jamire Calvin (two each), Malik Heath and Dillon Johnson — had a touchdown catch.

Rogers praised Johnson, who had 62 yards on eight carries in a good showing on the ground, as well as his pass-catchers for their efforts.

“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to my receivers,” Rogers said. “All of our receivers that played, I thought they played really well today, and they did a great job versus man coverage.”

But Johnson threw it back to his young quarterback, who came into the program from Greenville St. Joseph the same season Rogers entered. The sophomore running back said Rogers has quickly developed into a leader after winning the starting job out of fall camp.

“Just to have a guy out there, just a leader — a guy who really believes in me and the rest of the guys out there — it gives all of us confidence, and we believe that we can do whatever comes to us,” Johnson said.

Johnson said his quarterback is sometimes misunderstood, but that’s unlikely to be true after another standout performance Saturday.

“Will’s a dog,” Johnson said. “We believe in him, and everything runs through him — the passing, the runs, everything. We go as far as Will takes us.”

Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.