Auburn football came away with a huge win 40-29 Saturday night in a very difficult road test against Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss.
As expected, Ole Miss came out on fire in the first half as Chad Kelly carved up the Auburn secondary. Surprisingly, Carlton Davis really struggled early in this game as he gave up a lot of big passes, and then missed tackles once the pass was caught.
The Rebels had a really good strategy in this game to take away Auburn’s pass rush by throwing quick passes. This nullified Auburn’s defensive line from getting to Chad Kelly.
The Auburn offense survived the storm in the first half though as they scored on every possession. The play-calling in the first half was great, and Kamryn Pettway went bananas.
Both defenses made some good adjustments in the second half and slowed things down. Auburn’s defensive line, Montravius Adams and Carl Lawson in particular, started getting some pressure on Chad Kelly.
They came up with a huge stop on downs that I thought really changed the momentum of the game.
Ole Miss continued to load the box to try and stop the run, even though that didn’t work. But Sean White came up huge by completing some big passes, even some downfield.
He did miss on a couple, including one to Kyle Davis that should have been a touchdown. But I also think Davis gave up on that ball.
Ole Miss played with a lot more intensity in this game then I thought they would. I was expecting them to be little flat, especially when Auburn came back and took the lead, but they continued to fight and prove why they’re such a good team.
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Joshua Holsey was the player of the game in my opinion. They kept throwing at him all night, and he kept turning them down. Then he had the huge interception in the fourth quarter that helped Auburn pull away.
On a night when Carlton Davis and the rest of the secondary was playing terrible, Holsey was outstanding. He’s quickly becoming one of the best cornerbacks on this team. He had five passes defended to go along with that interception.
The defense all-together did not play great in this game giving up a ton of yards, especially through the air, but they came up with some huge stops when they needed them.
Offensively, Rhett Lashlee continues to do a great job of showing something new every week to keep the defense off balance. Instead of handing the ball to Eli Stove on sweeps this week, he had Sean White sling it out to him in the flat.
He also showed a couple of tricks plays, including one that led to a touchdown pass to a tight end.
This certainly was not the prettiest game of the year for Auburn football, but they did what they had to do in order to pick up a good win on the road in the SEC West.
The defense has carried the team for the majority of the season, so it was good to see that our offense is capable of carrying the load as well.
Ole Miss finished with 570 total yards, 465 of those coming through the air from Chad Kelly.
Kamryn Pettway finished with a career-high 236 yards on 30 carries and a touchdown. Overall the team ran for 307 yards.
Sean White threw the ball effectively going 15-of-22 for 247 yards and a touchdown.
War Eagle.