It wasn’t as easy as expected, but Ole Miss ultimately outlasted Auburn 48-34 to stay unbeaten with a rare victory over the Tigers at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday.

The No. 9 Rebels (7-0, 3-0 SEC) won for just the 3rd time ever over Auburn in 16 games at Oxford. The 7-0 start is the best by a Rebels team since the 1962 national champions that went 10-0. The 2014 Ole Miss squad started 7-0 and finished 9-4 overall, but its wins were later vacated by NCAA ruling.

Ole Miss extended its home win streak to 14 games, dating to Nov. 14, 2020, the longest such streak since winning 21 straight home games from Nov. 1, 1952, to Nov. 7, 1959.

Auburn fell to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in conference play, further putting into question the future of head coach Bryan Harsin.

Ole Miss freshman scoring machine Quinshon Judkins dashed 41 yards for his 3rd TD of the game to give the Rebels some breathing room and a 48-34 lead midway through the 4th quarter.

The Tigers made it a game at the start of the 2nd half on an electrifying 50-yard touchdown run by Tank Bigsby. Ole Miss’ once big 21-0 lead dwindled to 28-24 with Bigsby’s longest run of the year and 2nd-longest of his career. He ripped off a 51-yarder last year against Alcorn State.

The Rebels looked to have an answer, but a 13-play, 73-yard drive bogged down and they settled for a Jonathan Cruz 23-yard field goal and a 31-24 lead. Cruz then executed an onside kick and Ole Miss recovered, setting up a 9-play, 54-yard drive, all on the ground, and a 38-24 lead after a 5-yard touchdown run by Judkins.

But as it did throughout the game, the momentum swung again. Thanks to the play of Auburn quarterback Robby Ashford, who capped an impressive 8-play, 75-yard drive with an 11-yard TD run, it was a 1-possession game heading into the 4th quarter.

The Rebels had everything going their way early, converted an A.J. Finley interception into the 1st score of the game. Jaxson Dart threw 35 yards to a wide-open Dayton Wade for the touchdown and with 6:42 left in the 1st quarter the Rebels were off and running. It was Dart’s 1st completion of the game after Ole Miss gained 99 yards on 13 running plays.

Dart threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Zach Evans on the Rebels’ following drive for a 14-0 lead, and Auburn replaced Ashford with Finley. Ashford was 1-for-3 for 5 yards with an interception. His QB rating was minus-19.3.

Finley promptly turned the ball over, fumbling it away on a sack by Jared Ivey, who also recovered the fumble. It led to a 3-yard touchdown run by Evans and a 21-0 lead on the 2nd play of the 2nd quarter.

Harsin went back to Ashford, who picked up his game. He engineered a 9-play, 75-yard drive, converting twice on 3rd down and then scoring on a 2-yard run to get the Tigers on the board. Ashford followed that with an 8-play, 76-yard drive. Bigsby scored on a 2-yard run to pull Auburn within 21-14 at the 5:24 mark of the 2nd quarter.

Ole Miss swung the momentum back in its favor, taking advantage of a very questionable 4th-down interference call that kept a 7-play, 60-yard TD drive alive. Dart cashed in with a 7-yard scoring strike to Judkins and the Rebels led 28-14.

Auburn wouldn’t go away, however, adding a 42-yard field goal by Anders Carlson before halftime, after a Keionte Scott interception, to make it 28-17 at the break.