LIVE! From the Manning Center: Ole Miss’ Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste, Quincy McGee and JJ Pegues
Auburn is still in search of its first SEC win six games into the 2023 season.
But the Tigers (3-3, 0-3 SEC) are a different, better team at home.
Auburn has dropped two straight, including a blowout loss to LSU — a team its upcoming opponent, Ole Miss, thrillingly took down a couple of weeks ago.
But the Tigers are a different, better team at home.
Oh, and they’re being led by former Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze. And the Rebels have won at Auburn just once in the last 20 years. And the Tigers last season scored 34 points in a 48-34 road loss to the Rebels.
Auburn in its last 33 games against Power Five competition has scored as many points or more only five times.
Basically, while Ole Miss (5-1, 2-1) might be a comfortable road favorite on Saturday, the Rebels are expecting one heck of a challenge.
“I’ve heard Jordan-Hare (Stadium) is pretty loud,” Ole Miss linebacker Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste said Tuesday. He was one of three Rebels to meet the media. The others were offensive lineman Quincy McGee and defensive lineman JJ Pegues.
“It’s a hostile environment. We’ve got the crowd noise (in practice), but we’re preparing every way to be prepared for it.”
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. CT on ESPN. Jean-Baptiste said the Rebels are preparing to face multiple Auburn quarterbacks, among them Payton Thorne, an off-season transfer addition from Michigan State.
“We continue to take things 1-0 weekly and find a way to get better each and every week,” Jean-Baptiste said. “During the bye week, we took major emphasis on tackling. Setting up different kinds ofd drills to work on our tackling in field and out field and handle our business there.
“Just coming out and starting fast, really.”
