Ole Miss offense stalls out, defense starts slow, as No. 10 Rebels lose at No. 18 Auburn, 31-20
No. 10 Ole Miss (6-2, 3-2) dropped its first game since a road loss in Tuscaloosa on Saturday, losing 31-20 to the No. 18 Auburn Tigers on the Plains.
The Rebels had plenty of chances in the second half to cut into No. 18 Auburn’s lead when the defense got a few stops and forced a few field goals, but a hobbled Matt Corral and a receiver corps that is down its top three pass-catchers was finally held in check for the first time since the September loss to Alabama.
Corral, who missed nearly seven minutes after an apparent left ankle injury, was pressured all night and just could not operate out of a clean pocket and the Tigers made the Rebels one-dimensional for most of the evening.
In spot duty, freshman Luke Altmyer held things together for the Rebels, completing 5-of-5 passes for 18 yards and generated a chain-moving drive until Corral returned to take back over.
Corral finished 21-of-37 for 289 yards. Corral failed to throw a touchdown for the first time in 19 games and threw a costly interception in the red zone late that squandered a scoring opportunity. The Rebels also opted to go for it on fourth down twice instead of kicking the field goal and it ultimately flipped the momentum and a tired defense and hampered offense just couldn’t get their footing.
Casey Kelly and Jahcour Pearson had huge nights despite the loss, combining for 14 catches and 216 yards. Dontario Drummond exited the game with an apparent hamstring injury and Braylon Sanders was extremely limited despite dressing out and trying to tough it out. On the ground, it was by committee, but it was not the best night for Lane Kiffin and Jeff Lebby’s always potent rushing attack. The injury-plagued offensive line that was down a starter in Ben Brown had a night to forget and the Rebels’ managed just 156 yards on the ground.
The defense came into the game with a ton of confidence after back-to-back impressive performances against Tennessee and LSU, but Mike Bobo’s offense seemed to have an answer for everything they do early and Auburn built a lead that the Rebels just could not overcome. Auburn finished the game with 483 total yards, Bo Nix was 22-for-30 through the air for 276 yards and one touchdown and Tank Bigsby finished with 140 yards rushing.
Dating back to 2000, the Rebels are now just 2-9 when playing at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
The Rebels return home to take on Liberty before returning to SEC play a week later to welcome the Texas A&M Aggies to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
