Auburn game-by-game predictions: Running the table possible, but brutal path awaits

Gus Malzahn and his Auburn team eye an SEC title and playoff spot in 2018. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Gus Malzahn and his Auburn team eye an SEC title and playoff spot in 2018. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
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auburn football-season preview
Jordan Ta’amu is a difference-maker at QB for Ole Miss. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Auburn at Ole Miss

When: Oct. 20
Where: Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, Miss.
Time: TBD
TV: TBD

You have to give Matt Luke and the Rebels a lot of credit for what they did last season after Hugh Freeze was fired before the season started. To go 6-6 when things looked as bleak as they did was not bad. Not bad at all.

And something really good came out of the season: The emergence of QB Jordan Ta’amu.

He completed 66.5 percent of his passes for 1,682 yards, 11 TDs and four interceptions. And he did not play in Auburn’s 44-23 victory so the Tigers haven’t seen him. But rest assured that Steele and his defensive coaches will study Ta’amu, who also ran for 165 yards and four touchdowns.

Ta’amu is exactly the kind of quarterback who we’ve seen give Auburn fits over the years.

While Auburn is the better team by far, expect the Rebels to give the Tigers fits in Oxford.

Prediction: Auburn 30, Ole Miss 23 | Record: 8-0, 5-0