GAME 8 REVIEW: Is something special happening on the plains?

Auburn 31  Ole Miss 20.  I asked the question in the title of this post and after Saturday I think the answer is YES, there is something special happening on the plains.  Does that mean they can not go down in flames next week at Texas A&M?  Absolutely not, this is still a flawed team and certainly not close to the most talented team in the SEC.  Most likely, they will lose to the Aggies, beat the next two and lose to Bama BUT after what has happened the last two games, there is a small, tiny, sliver of a chance that this Auburn team could do something magical.  That in and of itself is amazing.  You see it in these locker room videos the last two games, I have not seen anything like that in a long time.  I give props to the players and the coaches.  I certainly was down on both after Georgia and Georgia State, I did not see or think I would see the fire I see now in this team.  Auburn has been missing this "oneness", as Pat Dye called it, for a long time.

THE GOOD

That is why you cannot completely measure players by size and estimated talent level.  You are seeing them become better as a TEAM.  The coaching staff also came through again by having a team ready to play after a bye week.  You can never take that for granted.  These Auburn Tigers were ready to play and watching everyone pick Ole Miss on College Gameday was the last straw.  The Auburn defense usually looks completely outmanned every time you compare them to their opponent but these guys just keep fighting and have slowed down every team they have played other than Georgia breaking through late.  I think the Derrick Mason effect we all expected right off the bad is finally being seen.  Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo also called a good game.  Auburn has continued to pass the ball all year and hey what do you know they have improved at it!  That was a concept foreign to our last coach.  You have to be able to pass.

Bo Nix was simply better than the much more hyped Matt Corral and I do not think it was just Corral's ankle injury.  Do I think Nix is a better quarterback overall, I do not but last night he was better which bodes well for Auburn.  I mean just look at the numbers...  22 of 30 for 276 yards and a touchdown plus two more touchdowns running the ball.  Nix also distributed the ball to TEN different receivers for at least the second time this season.  That NEVER happened with Gus Malzahn in a big game that was not a blowout, ever.  Also FINALLY Tank Bigsby finally returned with a monster game rushing for 140 yards and a touchdown.  This was this year's offense at their best running the ball well and making big pass plays off that.  The coaching staff also called good plays in critical situations.  You add that to a fired up defense and you get a big win like this.

THE BAD

Unfortunately Auburn's biggest issue was also on display last night and that is the sinking spells the Tigers hit on both sides of the ball each game.  The defense had their bad run in the first half when Ole Miss grinded out two double-digit play touchdown drives in a row.  The Auburn defense just has those few series every game where they look so bad but to their credit they usually come back to get big stops and they did in the second half when the offense went in to their funk.  Auburn came out ON FIRE scoring four touchdowns in the first half but after missing a field goal on their first drive of the second half, the offense completely went into their shell.  They did not score a touchdown in the second half.  They gave Ole Miss every chance in the world to get back in the game.  It was hard to watch.  Auburn has got to stop these long bad stretches to keep this run going.  The only game left that is probably a sure win is South Carolina. 

Luckily for Auburn there was plenty of bad on the other side as well.  Lane Kiffin is again in my opinion one of the most overrated coaches in history.  He is a good offensive coach, he runs the Gus Malzahn offense as it should be run.  The way he is running it is what I was asking for the entire time Gus was at Auburn.  I mean Ole Miss' running plays were all Gus staples but their passing game was miles better.  However Kiffin is just a complete jerk as he proves over and over, and his penchant for going for it on fourth down is just stupid.  Analytics do not take into account the stadium noise and intensity or the mood on both sides of the ball.  Ole Miss desperately needed points to give their players a boost and they also needed to get to just one score behind.  Analyze that!  Kiffin though still went for it and buried his team in the process.  

THE UGLY

Vanderbilt should not be in the SEC.  It is as plain now as it has been for decades.  The top high school teams draw more fans.  They are never competitive and a few lucky winning seasons in the last 40 years does not change that.  I know they love pocketing the money but it appears their fans have finally completely given up.  It is just not fair to the school or anyone involved with the football program.  I just do not understand competing in perpetuity with no chance of ever really winning.  Again it just does not make sense for anyone involved.  Thing are also getting a big ugly down in Gainesville as Florida took a beat down similar to Auburn against Georgia yesterday.  The difference is that Mullen has been at Florida for four years now and that was his fourth loss this season.  The natives are getting restless and it could not happen to a better guy.  

Georgia is also riding high with their "best defense ever" but things could still turn ugly for them.  Bama is not the juggernaut they were last year and they have some warts but if they run the table (which hopefully they will not) they will beat Georgia in my opinion.  Stetson Bennett is not going to beat Bama regardless of how good their defense is.  Mark it down.  They better get J.T. Daniels back but even then I would pick Bama but Georgia would have a better chance.  Things got ugly for Kentucky as they went down hard for the second week in a row.  Every time you count the Bulldogs out they seem to get a big win.  Auburn needs to fully focus on Texas A&M but win or lose they better get ready for State.  Mike Leach, as weird as he is, is a decent coach.  He is not great but he seems to knock off one or two teams every season.

THE LAST WORD

 It is just one of those seasons for Auburn, every game seems to be the biggest of the season.  I guess that is what happens when an underachieving team wins some big games.  The Tigers now have played themselves into championship contention and every game is a playoff game.  Auburn has managed to win all the right games and I know this sounds weird but also to lose the right games.  The Penn State loss does not hurt them in conference and if you have to lose in conference you want to lose out of division.  This has put a two loss Auburn team in the race for the SEC Championship.  It all comes down now to what has been Auburn's home away from home in College Station.  Unbelievably Auburn has still never lost on the road at Texas A&M.  Auburn has won every time since the Aggies joined the SEC.  Can Auburn extend the streak against a surging Texas A&M team coming off a bye week?  Can they put themselves in position for a winner-take-all Iron Bowl?  We will know the answer around 6pm next weekend.

TRIVIA QUESTION

The worst Auburn team to win at Texas A&M was in 2015 when Auburn finished the season 6-6.  It was much maligned quarterback Jeremy Johnson's biggest win in my opinion and defensive coordinator Will Muschamp's finest job that season.  The defense won the game for Auburn by terrorizing Texas A&M's star true freshman quarterback?  Who was that quarterback?  

Scroll down for the answer...

TRIVIA ANSWER:  The quarterback was this season's likely NFL MVP, Phoenix Cardinal quarterback Kyler Murray.