SEC Kickoff: Everything you need to know about Auburn at Ole Miss

Here’s everything you need to know about Auburn at Ole Miss.

When: Today
Where: Oxford, Miss.
Game Time: 7 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
Current Line: Ole Miss (-2)

Game Buzz: Both teams slipped inside the top four of the inaugural College Football Playoff poll. But given the difficult schedules both of these teams face, will the result even matter? It’s not impossible for a two-loss SEC team to make the field, but that won’t be enough to win the SEC West. Auburn still has road games against Georgia and Alabama. Ole Miss still must travel to Arkansas and play Mississippi State. That’s not to mention a potential SEC championship game. The loser in all likelihood is out of the playoff picture, while the winner still has a long way to go.

SATURDAY DOWN SOUTH PREVIEWS

• SEC power rankings: Week 9
• SEC Week 10 predictions
• Auburn’s pass rush nowhere to be found
• Ole Miss run game vs. Auburn run defense
• Auburn reclaims identity as run-first team
• Inside The Numbers: third downs, turnovers keys for Ole Miss

NO. 3 AUBURN TIGERS

Players To Watch:

• QB Nick Marshall
• RB Cameron Artis-Payne
• WR D’haquille Williams
• DL DaVonte Lambert
• CB Jonathan Jones
• LB Cassanova McKinzy

Keys For Auburn:

• Don’t get cute on offense. At times this season, coach Gus Malzahn has strayed from the up-tempo read option attack that got the Tigers to the BCS championship game a year ago. The Ole Miss defense may be tired after a physical, emotionally-draining loss at LSU last week. Cody Prewitt and Robert Nkemdiche are banged up while Robert Nkemdiche is out. Run the ball, Auburn, and hope to wear down the Rebels.
• Take care of the ball. Again, don’t get cute. Auburn turned the ball over three times in the first half against Mississippi State in the team’s lone loss this season, spotting the No. 1 team in the nation 21 points on the road. The Tigers can’t afford to make that mistake again.
• Avoid defensie collapse. Last week against South Carolina, Auburn’s defense played awful. The Gamecocks came up empty on several red zone trips and missed on a final Hail Mary, but still scored 35 points. Ole Miss isn’t as capable of exploiting the Ellis Johnson-coached unit, but Auburn still needs a better effort if it wants to knock off the nation’s No. 4 team.

Glaring weakness to watch: Pass rush. With the impotent Ole Miss running game, it’s on Bo Wallace and the electric Rebels receivers to contribute some semblance of offense. That becomes much harder if the Tigers can generate pressure, as LSU proved last week. But Auburn hasn’t been able to do much of that since Dee Ford left for the NFL.

Most interesting part of the game: The outcome. We’re guaranteed an immediate shakeup in the College Football Playoff rankings. This game is win at all costs, and how it looks doesn’t matter.

Team buzz: Mississippi teams enter the weekend 2-0 against Alabama teams. The Rebels could sweep Alabama and Auburn with a win here and add a punctuation on the season for the Magnolia State no matter what happens from here. Win here, though, and the Rebels probably can claim an SEC West title by beating in-state rival Mississippi State.

NO. 4 OLE MISS REBELS

Players To Watch:

• QB Bo Wallace
• WR Laquon Treadwell
• WR/TE Cody Core
• DL Robert Nkemdiche
• DB Senquez Golson
• DB Cody Prewitt

Keys For Ole Miss:

• Convert on third down. Keeping Auburn off the field and staying fresh defensively is the Rebels’ biggest key tonight, elements they didn’t handle well last time out. Ole Miss failed on 12-of-17 third-down tries at LSU and was noticeably tired after intermission. This being a Playoff elimination game, establishing a rhythm early is important.
• Tackle well. Against a run-heavy offense, wrapping up is a necessity. The Rebels have had no problem in that category as the SEC’s top-rated scoring defense but hasn’t yet faced an elite rushing offense, either.

Glaring weakness to watch: Up front, Ole Miss has given up an SEC-west leading 19 sacks this season, but it remains to be seen if the Tigers, who have had their own struggles pushing into the backfield, can take advantage. Bo Wallace took numerous licks early in last week’s loss at LSU and his confidence was rattled the rest of the way.

Most interesting part of the game: The Rebels’ ability to bounce-back after a loss. For the first time all year, Ole Miss must respond to adversity to avoid falling out of the SEC West race.

Christopher Smith

An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.