Auburn uses big first half to expose Swiss cheese Ole Miss defense
From the very beginning, Ole Miss didn’t get off to a good start against Auburn on Saturday, and by halftime, it trailed 35-3.
While the Rebels appeared to move the ball easily on their first drive of the game, a 43-yard field goal attempt from Gary Wunderlich bounced off the left upright.
Meanwhile, on defense, the Rebels struggled to contain Auburn running back Kerryon Johnson from the get-go as he stiff-armed defenders and rolled to a 17-yard touchdown. Ole Miss also gave the Tigers to gift offside penalties when the Tigers faced a third down and nine.
Wunderlich finally connected on a field goal, but Auburn responded quickly when Ryan Davis went 75 yards on a pass from Jarrett Stidham as he was hardly touched by an Ole Miss defender up the sidelines and across the field. That gave the Tigers already have 139 yards after two possessions.
The Ole Miss defense, which has had problems in recent weeks, lost a key player when A.J. Moore was ejected on a targeting call on an Ole Miss punt. He was flagged for a helmet-to-helmet hit.
The latest numbers were 87 points in just more than five quarters. Auburn outgained Ole Miss 391-204 at halftime. At halftime, Ole Miss was outscored 101-6 in the past six quarters.
While the defense struggled, the offense couldn’t convert many first downs, and was just 4-for-12 in that department at halftime. Auburn, meanwhile, was 4-for-6.
OM's worst loss to Auburn was 41-0 in 1985. Got a feeling that's changing today.
— Alex McDaniel (@AlexMcDaniel) October 7, 2017
Fans had plenty of opinions about the Rebels in the first half:
We now go to Auburn, Alabama for a live look at the Ole Miss Rebels pic.twitter.com/BTdGMlV8ti
— Sudu Upadhyay (@SuduUpadhyay) October 7, 2017
It’s tough being an Ole Miss fan
— Jay (@jay_vanslyke) October 7, 2017
I haven't said anything Bc what is there to say really. #olemiss pic.twitter.com/bKbVdo8vII
— Cheryl Goodbye4now (@CherylGoodwin) October 7, 2017
New #olemiss landshark poster coming out soon‼️ pic.twitter.com/o935N8LjjT
— Farjad Khan (@farjadk) October 7, 2017