5 Reasons Auburn Football Defeated Ole Miss on the Road
Here we go over five things Auburn football did right in order to pick up a win against Ole Miss on the road Saturday night in Oxford, Miss.
Auburn football fought through some adversity and came away with a huge 40-29 win on the road against Ole Miss to keep their SEC Championship hopes alive.
Ole Miss came out hot early and took a lead over Auburn in the first half, but Auburn stayed right with them and never let the Rebels pull away.
The two teams went back-and-forth in the second half, but a huge interception in the fourth quarter helped Auburn pull away.
Let’s take a look at five reasons why Auburn football was able to come away with the win in Oxford.
Joshua Holsey
Joshua Holsey was easily the MVP of this game for me. On a night when the Auburn defense gave up 465 passing yards, Holsey was the one person in the secondary who had a great game.
He finished with five pass break-ups and that huge interception that changed the tide of the game in Auburn’s favor.
Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly constantly tried to go at Holsey throughout the game, but he denied them on several occasions. Auburn doesn’t win this game without the great effort by Holsey.
Kamryn Pettway
A pretty obvious reason, but Kamryn Pettway once again proved why he’s one of the best running backs in college football.
He plowed through the Ole Miss defensive line for 236 yards on 30 carries. He had one score, but could have had two more but was brought down inside the five yard line twice.
That’s three monster games in a row now for Pettway who has taken over as the lead back for Auburn. I know the last two teams aren’t exactly known for their rush defense, but what Pettway done is still impressive.
Sean White
I’m not sure Sean White is going to get the love he deserves for the win in this game. Ole Miss stacked the box and forced Auburn to throw the football.
White stood in the pocket and made a lot of great throws to help open up the running game. He also took off and ran for some big yards, including a huge run on 3-and-12 to help Auburn convert in what turned into a touchdown drive.
Auburn hasn’t asked much of Sean White these past two games, but they needed him tonight in order to win, and the sophomore delivered in a big way.
Redzone Defense
More from Fly War Eagle
- Ex-star Auburn DL confronts ‘slant man’ in MNF post-game video
- Ex-Auburn star laments not getting to face fellow Heisman candidate
- Analyst expects third-year RB to take AU rushing lead from surprising transfer
- Hugh Freeze was the right hire to truly embrace Auburn
- Auburn football Jack LB: ‘We’ve got to earn our respect back’
You knew Ole Miss was going to score some points in this game, I didn’t think they would score as many as they did, but it’s hard to stop Chad Kelly.
I thought this game could come down to whichever defense comes up with the most stops inside the redzone.
The Auburn defense held Ole Miss to two field goals inside the redzone and also got a huge turnover-on-downs when the Rebels went for it on fourth down.
In the second quarter when Ole Miss was really clicking on offense, the Auburn defense held them to three field goals and kept them out of the endzone, which kept Auburn in striking distance.
Offensive Play-Calling
I haven’t given Rhett Lashlee much credit since taking over play-calling duties in the LSU game because I feel like he’s been running the offense that Auburn should have been running all along.
Now that everyone has seen what Auburn is doing effectively, he’s starting to work in some new plays on offense to keep defenses off balance.
Next: Auburn Football vs. Ole Miss: Auburn Passes Tough Road Test
That will continue to be a struggle going forward as teams come up with ways to stop Auburn’s offensive attacked. I thought his ability to switch things up and throw in some wrinkles on offense really gave Auburn the edge they needed in this game.
War Eagle!