Auburn bounces back, holds on

[aubiefifty 18,222]

Instant analysis: Auburn bounces back, holds on against Ole Miss

By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

7-9 minutes

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

After a rough week that saw Auburn drop a hearbreaker at LSU and then lose backup quarterback Joey Gatewood to transfer, the Tigers enjoyed a welcome return to Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday night. No. 11 Auburn defeated Ole Miss, 20-14, to improve to 7-2 on the year and kick off what the Tigers hope to be a memorable November on the right foot.

Auburn's defense bottled up Ole Miss' two-quarterback, RPO offense, while the Tigers' offense made some much-needed adjustments after being stuck in neutral last week against LSU. Auburn worked to move the ball quickly, and it relied on a wide-open passing attack to do so against Ole Miss. The result was a pass-heavy performance for Bo Nix -- and a much-needed bounceback heading into the team's second bye week of the season.

Auburn's offense opens up

Auburn's offense struggled throughout October, and the Tigers anticipated a return to Jordan-Hare Stadium would provide a boost. Although Auburn finished with just 20 points, the offense was able to move the ball with more ease against Ole Miss thanks to a wide-open approach that leaned more on the passing attack -- especially in the first half -- and saw the Tigers try to get the ball quickly to receivers in space. Bo Nix had career highs in pass attempts and completions while putting together his second career 300-yard passing game. Four different receivers had at least three receptions and four had at least 47 yards receiving as Auburn rolled up more than 500 yards of offense.

The Tigers' third-down efficiency (which was a major issue in losses to Florida and LSU) also came up big, especially in the second half, when Auburn converted 9-of-13 third-down attempts.

Defense bottles up Ole Miss' RPO attack

Auburn was wary of Ole Miss' offense entering the week, especially with the way offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez rotates quarterbacks Matt Corral and John Rhys Plumlee. The Tigers were able to bottle up that RPO attack, limiting the Rebels to 266 yards -- including just 167 rushing yards -- and 3.9 yards per play. The defense came up huge with the game on the line, when Christian Tutt picked off a pass on the final play of the game to seal the victory.

Butch Dill

Auburn running back D.J. Williams (3) carries the ball during the first half of the team's NCAA college football game against Mississippi, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019, in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

D.J. Williams' encore effort

After his breakthrough performance against LSU last week, freshman running back D.J. Williams followed it up with another strong effort on the ground. Williams, who had just one carry in the first quarter against Ole Miss, finished the game with a team-high 24 carries for a team-high 93 yards and a touchdown. His second-quarter score, from 1 yard out, was the first of his career, as he continued to show his worth as an every-down back. His emergence has given Auburn some flexibility in the backfield, as Boobee Whitlow -- who was expected to be limited against the Rebels -- was able to be held out completely before the Tigers' bye week.

Harold Joiner's give and take

With Boobee Whitlow still limited and Auburn without backup quarterback Joey Gatewood following his decision to transfer earlier in the week, redshirt freshman Harold Joiner saw an expanded role against Ole Miss. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound running back saw his first action of the night near the goal line in the second quarter, when he took a direct snap out of the Wildcat on second-and-goal from the Ole Miss 5. Joiner gained 3 yards before fumbling the ball near the goal line, but Prince Tega Wanogho was able to recover it for Auburn, which settled for an Anders Carlson field goal two snaps later.

That gaffe didn’t prevent Gus Malzahn from going back to Joiner, who reeled in a wheel route on Auburn’s next possession. Joiner caught the pass from Bo Nix on second-and-9 from the Auburn 21 and raced own the sideline 78 yards before being tackled at the Ole Miss 1-yard line. D.J. Williams scored a touchdown on the ensuing play to give Auburn a 10-0 lead with 2:34 to go until halftime. Joiner finished the game with XXXX.

Todd Van Emst/AU Athletics

Auburn's Anders Carlson sets the NCAA record for consecutive PATs from 2013-2019 at 303 in the second half. Auburn football vs Arkansas on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019 in Fayetteville, AK. Todd Van Emst/AU Athletics

Special teams troubles rear their head again

Special teams mishaps plagued Auburn during the first two weeks of the season, but the Tigers managed to turn things around over the last six games entering November. Those struggles reared their head again on Saturday against Ole Miss, first in the form of three missed field goals by Anders Carlson -- two in the first half and one that would have sealed the game late -- then via a long Rebels punt return just before halftime.

Carlson, who entered the day 10-of-12 on field goals this season, missed his first two tries from 42 and 49 yards out in the first quarter as Auburn came up scoreless on its first two real opportunities. Then, just prior to halftime, Auburn went three-and-out and was forced to punt with a little more than a minute left in the second quarter. Arryn Siposs punted it 44 yards, but a breakdown in coverage led to a 55-yard return by Elijah Moore to set Ole Miss up at the Auburn 23-yard line with 1:06 to play. The Rebels found the end zone three plays later to cut their deficit to 10-7 going into the half. It was the longest punt return allowed by Auburn all season.

Player of the game: Bo Nix

The Auburn quarterback bounced back from one of his worst games of the season with his second career 300-yard passing performance. He completed a career-high 30 passes (on a career-high 44 attempts) for a career-best 340 yards and added a rushing touchdown.

Play of the game: D.J. Williams' first career touchdown

With Auburn leading 3-0 and facing first-and-goal after a 78-yard catch-and-run by Harold Joiner, freshman running back D.J. Williams found the end zone from 1 yard out to give the Tigers a 10-0 lead in the second quarter. It was Williams' first career touchdown, and making it even more memorable was that he crossed the goal line thanks to an assist from left tackle Prince Tega Wanogho, who suplexed Williams into the end zone after the running back got held up at the line of scrimmage.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

[ToraGirl 5,498]

Holds on, yes. I can't wrap my head around "bounces back." 🤔 Thx for sharing, aubiefifty...that was hot off the press!

[shabby 2,039]

concerns and positives. Carlson cost us 9 points and almost a game. Nix with pass protection shows he can be what we need him to be. Running game is looking improved. over 500 yards of offense. But where were the points. Weird game for sure.

[weagl1 1,809]

Kicking game let us down and allowed what should have been an easy win to become a near loss.  

[nixtosanders94 2,180]

Bounces back? 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[SaltyTiger 8,568]

15 minutes ago, shabby said:

concerns and positives. Carlson cost us 9 points and almost a game. Nix with pass protection shows he can be what we need him to be. Running game is looking improved. over 500 yards of offense. But where were the points. Weird game for sure.

Different snapper may have a little to with it. Correct on weird game. Gorgeous day in Auburn regardless.

[AURex 2,255]

A pitiful poor Ole Miss team, at home, and we "hold on" to win.

Yep, tell me about UGA.

 

[WarEagle1983 2,190]

2 minutes ago, AURex said:

A pitiful poor Ole Miss team, at home, and we "hold on" to win.

Yep, tell me about UGA.

 

I  was thinking we'd be able to keep it close with UGA. Not after today. UGA looked liked they were predicted to look like today against FL. Didn't blow out FL but I they dominated that game. UGA is going to steam roll us if the same teams shows up when we play them.

[SaltyTiger 8,568]

7 minutes ago, AURex said:

 

Yep, tell me about UGA.

I am thinking we win that game. Why not?

[shabby 2,039]

Auburn's offense played one of it's best game this season. for whatever reason points didn't manifest. Auburn can beat Geirgia with one big Caveat. Our offensive line protects and run blocks

[Beenjammin 87]

I always enjoy the half time show for military appreciation but that’s about it for me tonight. It was as cold as our offensive play. Even the F35s were off target and flew wide right.  Bummed me out from the very start. I ran to the 50 yard line and still missed them... 

[JBiGGiE 2,488]

We were in let down territory and put up 500 yards of offense and ultimately got the win. We get another bye week and then a susceptible Georgia at home.

I'm not going to lament over dropping a game to Ole Miss just so we can justify firing Gus. I'm disappointed that a championship run is off the table, especially given our defense. If we were honest with ourselves, we new knew coming into the season it was a slim chance we win the west much less earn a berth in the playoff.

So yes, if winning games is the track, then we are back on it and I for one will be routing for a strong finish to the season. War Eagle!

[ToraGirl 5,498]

I can't get over the "bounce" part. In honor of it..."if they don't bounce back... you go HONGRAY." 🤣🤣🤣

 

[Sizzle 3,948]

 

[Auctoritas 2,906]

17 minutes ago, Sizzle said:

 

A shame. Maybe it wasn't so much a letdown game, maybe the team was responding to the negative energy.

I wonder if the boobirds would have booed at halftime if they'd realized we had rolled up 300 yards of offense at that point, en route to over 500. There was no reason to boo at that juncture there.

The fanbase may be taking issue with the coach, but I don't think that the players are, and that's potentially creating some dissonance where they're internalizing the grumbling as against the team rather than the coach, or potentially against individual players.

Did we have recruits there?

[Farmer Brown 2,461]

I guarantee you, those players knew who was getting booed. 

[Sizzle 3,948]

29 minutes ago, Auctoritas said:

A shame. Maybe it wasn't so much a letdown game, maybe the team was responding to the negative energy.

I wonder if the boobirds would have booed at halftime if they'd realized we had rolled up 300 yards of offense at that point, en route to over 500. There was no reason to boo at that juncture there.

The fanbase may be taking issue with the coach, but I don't think that the players are, and that's potentially creating some dissonance where they're internalizing the grumbling as against the team rather than the coach, or potentially against individual players.

Did we have recruits there?

Our RB commit Tank Bigsby was there. I think there were a few more there as well 

[Auctoritas 2,906]

9 minutes ago, Farmer Brown said:

I guarantee you, those players knew who was getting booed. 

And clearly, they were totally fine with it.

They're still playing hard for him. A 20 year old kid will take the booing personally because of that, right or wrong.

Edit - to be honest, I don't think booing your own team is ever appropriate at the college or amateur level. I mean, booing the refs, yes, booing unsportsmanlike conduct, yes (on both sides), but not your own team (I mean, I guess lighthearted booing about not going for it on 4th down to try to change the coaches mind is the one exception). You can't separate the coach from the players as representatives of the school playing for free, and the players certainly won't separate it.

[Sizzle 3,948]

 

[CleCoTiger 1,957]

 

6 minutes ago, Sizzle said:

Our RB commit Tank Bigsby was there. I think there were a few more there as well 

Oh geeze...

[nixtosanders94 2,180]

6 minutes ago, Auctoritas said:

And clearly, they were totally fine with it.

They're still playing hard for him. A 20 year old kid will take the booing personally because of that, right or wrong.

I wouldn’t boo but thats just me. The powers that be know when things are bad, they don’t have to hear the fans boo to know that.

[Auctoritas 2,906]

1 minute ago, nixtosanders94 said:

I wouldn’t boo but thats just me. The powers that be know when things are bad, they don’t have to hear the fans boo to know that.

Ran out of reactions, so here's a couple of thumbs up 👍👍

[ToraGirl 5,498]

5 minutes ago, nixtosanders94 said:

I wouldn’t boo but thats just me. The powers that be know when things are bad, they don’t have to hear the fans boo to know that.

I agree. I couldn't. But if a message needs to be emphasized, that is one tool that is available when an aura of powerlessness is present. 

[nixtosanders94 2,180]

1 minute ago, ToraGirl said:

I agree. I couldn't. But if a message needs to be emphasized, that is one tool that is available when an aura of powerlessness is present. 

🏆🏆🏆

[Auctoritas 2,906]

12 minutes ago, ToraGirl said:

I agree. I couldn't. But if a message needs to be emphasized, that is one tool that is available when an aura of powerlessness is present. 

(Edit to add: this gets ranty and philosophical, and I'm not getting ranty at you, and hold no grudge)

Here's the issue, though - this is not powerlessness. Those bought tickets, or received tickets because they gave money. A much better message is not giving money. Or just walking out at halftime and leaving empty seats on national TV. If they truly wanted to effect change, it will take a realization that it is slow in coming and that it will take deliberate, economic action.

In this case of "powerlessness", though, the boo is not being directed at the persons holding the levers of power. The boos in that moment were not to let the BoT or the PTB or the AD know about displeasure, they were solely to punish Gus Malzahn. And, unfortunately, such punishment is not selective and the blows were raining down on the people around him too, the players.

To what end? What was the boo going to do? They didn't start until the players were running off the field after the clock hit zero. Gus couldn't petition to go back in time and run a drive instead of going to the locker room. The boo was in the moment was ONLY to try to make Gus Malzahn feel bad, and that was because he was making THOSE people who feel entitled to feeling good instead feel bad and they wanted to reciprocate. That's not redressing an imbalance of power, that is vengeance.