THE GOOD
As I just mentioned, all of the good started up front on both sides of the ball. The Auburn offense started the game by simply running the ball down Ole Miss' throat. Quarterback Nick Marshall behind the Auburn offensive line was simply devastating running the read option and rushing for 140 yards on 14 carries. Tre Mason and Cameron Aris-Payne added plenty more and Auburn rushed for almost 300 yards. Auburn's passing numbers were not near as good but Auburn was running so well that it was not needed as much.
I definitely thought Coach Gus Malzahn got a little too conservative late in the second half. It is a little different when you are the HEAD coach at this level and you are in position to win a big game. Everyone always jumps the defensive head coaches like Tuberville but even the offensive coaches like Malzahn pucker up as well. I understand not doing anything stupid but I think we could have called a fairly low risk play to burn the Rebels when they are blitzing safeties and cornerbacks. I also would have run some slightly different running plays and not the read option after Marshall started limping. Ole Miss knew he was not going to run.
On the other side of the ball, Auburn completely stuffed the Ole Miss running game especially quarterback Bo Wallace. It was obviously a huge part of the game plan and it worked great. Auburn seemed to be in Wallace's head all night not letting him run, sacking him six times and picking him off twice with the first one being a "pick-6" by Robenson Therezie. Wallace still put up 300 yards passing but other than a few big plays did not have a good night throwing the ball. Auburn also stopped Ole Miss speedster Jeff Scott who did nothing other than one 52 yard run where Auburn almost had him in the backfield.
Kudos to all the guys up front including: Dee Ford, Gabe Wright, Elijah Daniel, Nosa Eague and Carl Lawson in his coming-out party. From al.com: "The defensive line accounted for 12.5 of Auburn's 14 tackles for losses and none may have been bigger than those provided by Lawson. The freshman was in Wallace's face for most of the night and led the Tigers with 3.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. The 14 tackles for losses were the most for Auburn since recording 16 against Kentucky in 2004."
THE BAD
There is not too much in this column for this game and that is always nice. Unfortunately though this game was a lot closer than it should have been due to two big Auburn fumbles in the second half. Both drives were started in great field position and could have pretty much put this game away. Auburn had manhandled Ole Miss most of the night and should have won this game going away.
The first one was a little bit on the coaches as Ole Miss blew up the read option that Auburn kept calling over and over. The second one was pretty much a great play by Ole Miss safety Cody Prewitt. I sat there and watched Cameron Artis-Payne try to protect the ball putting both hands over the ball. However it was not enough and obviously a big strong guy like Aris-Payne cannot let that happen but it was a great play by the Ole Miss safety to get it out of there.
THE UGLY
This was seeing linebacker Cassanova McKinzy down on the field and the medics bringing the cart out for him. It is always a reminder that when you get some of the biggest strongest guys on the planet hitting each other bad things can happen. It was a real relief to see McKinzy back on the sideline with just a neck brace. Auburn people are a little more sensitive to this after what happened to defensive back Zach Etheridge a few years ago.
THE FINAL WORD
I think most Auburn fans can let out a big sigh of relief. Auburn has won the two biggest games of the season in beating State and Ole Miss. There were a lot of tough losses last year but getting whipped by both Mississippi schools started the avalanche. Auburn has gained a true measure of redemption by turning that around this year. The state of Mississippi has been conquered and now this Auburn team can go hunt bigger game.
Auburn will beat Western Carolina and Florida Atlantic at home guaranteeing at least a 6-2 home record. Auburn is also now basically bowl eligible. The next goals are grabbing road wins at Arkansas and Tennessee. Tennessee looked much better yesterday but is fixing to go through a really tough stretch of games. I think Auburn has a great chance in those games. Texas A&M has looked mortal this season but I am not sure if we can outscore Johnny Football at home. However this Auburn team, if it keeps improving, might have a chance at a big upset somewhere...
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