defense steps up late

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‘Protect the house’: Auburn defense steps up late, seals win vs. Ole Miss with interception

Posted Nov 02, 2019

4-5 minutes

Auburn Football

Owen Pappoe had one thing going through his mind when Anders Carlson’s 49-yard field goal ricocheted off the upright with 1:14 remaining and Auburn clinging to a six-point lead against Ole Miss.

“Protect the house,” Pappoe said.

It was the prime directive for Auburn’s defense late Saturday night in Jordan-Hare Stadium. Ole Miss had 74 seconds to go 69 yards in order to pull a shocking upset of the nation’s No. 11 team, and Auburn’s defense didn’t want to be responsible for the team suffering another heartbreaking defeat.

Not after last week’s setback against LSU dashed the program’s preseason goal of an SEC West title. Not after a month away from home, and not while two senior impact players — defensive end Marlon Davidson and safety Jeremiah Dinson — were held out of the game due to injury and illness, respectively.

All Auburn needed was one more stop.

Simple, right? The Tigers already kept the Rebels out of the end zone on nine of their 11 drives to that point, including eight punts, with three three-and-outs. However, Ole Miss already had a quick-strike touchdown drive on the night — a 22-second, 23-yard drive right before halftime — and put together a sustained scoring drive on its prior possession, marching 91 yards on 15 plays to get within one score late.

“We really weren’t even supposed to be in that situation, but it is what it is,” defensive back Christian Tutt said. “We were just trying to win the game and move on to the next week and get better every day.”

Ole Miss looked right away like it was going to pose a threat late. John Rhys Plumlee connected with Braylon Sanders for a 33-yard gain on the drive’s first play, but a holding call wiped it out and put the Rebels behind the sticks. On the following play, Plumlee found Sanders again, this time for 17 yards to give the Rebels a manageable second-and-3.

Plumlee, who finished with 92 yards rushing on the night, scampered for 20 yards to pick up the first down and get into Auburn territory. Two short, quick passes later, Ole Miss was at the Auburn 35-yard line with time winding down. After an incompletion, Ole Miss faced fourth-and-3 at the 35 with 17 seconds to play.

This was the make-or-break moment for Auburn’s defense.

Plumlee dropped back and evaded a diving Big Kat Bryant before reversing to the left side of the field. Bryant continued his pursuit toward the sideline, and Pappoe came barreling upfield toward Plumlee as the quarterback scrambled to make a decision. Pappoe, Auburn’s freshman linebacker sensation, wrapped up Plumlee and spun him to the ground—but Plumlee managed to release a pass before he hit the ground (though Pappoe contested after the game that he should have been credited with the sack).

That’s when Tutt came through with a game-sealing interception, nearly returning it all the way before being brought down after time expired. It was the sophomore’s second career interception and his first of the season—and the fifth of the year for Auburn’s defense.

“Just trying to win the game,” Tutt said. “He made a bad ball and I just caught it and ran with it.”

It was a timely play by Tutt, and another big moment for Auburn’s defense to step up and bail out the offense on a night that saw the Tigers rack up plenty of yardage but struggle to finish drives while putting up just 20 points.

“Well, we’re confident in our defense, the best in the country,” quarterback Bo Nix said. “They delivered for us again. Obviously (we) couldn’t be on the field, we had our chances and we left it in the hands of them — and thank goodness they came through for us.”

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