10/16/22 Auburn Articles

aubiefifty · October 16, 2022

Auburn’s run defense decimated by Ole Miss in worst performance in 20 years

Published: Oct. 15, 2022, 5:37 p.m.

4-5 minutes

An emboldened Ole Miss fan climbed out of the stands and onto the field at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium midway through the fourth quarter and ran toward the southwest end zone. He raised his arms skyward, smiling as he jogged into the end zone, where he was promptly taken down by swarm of security and police officers.

Even that unruly Rebels fan, it seemed, wanted to see if he could run on Auburn’s defense. Everyone else could, at least.

Read more Auburn football: Rewinding Auburn’s 48-34 loss to Ole Miss

What Bryan Harsin said about Auburn’s third straight loss

Instant analysis from Auburn’s loss to Ole Miss

Auburn’s defense turned in a historically bad performance against the run Saturday during its 48-34 loss to No. 9 Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss. The Tigers allowed 448 rushing yards to the Rebels, who found the end zone three times on the ground and averaged 6.5 yards per carry for the day.

“It’s the same story this week — misfits,” edge Derick Hall said. “We gift a lot of things to teams…. They just exploited our mistakes, and offenses want to do that.”

It was the most rushing yards allowed by Auburn in a game in at least 20 yards and was the team’s worst defensive effort against the run since Oct. 12, 2002, against Arkansas. That was the day the Razorbacks gashed the Tigers to the tune of 426 yards and five touchdowns on the ground, led by Fred Talley’s 241 yards.

Auburn didn’t allow a 200-yard rusher Saturday, but three Ole Miss players eclipsed the 100-yard plateau in this football game-turned-track meet. Quinshon Judkins, an Alabama native who grew up just down the road from Auburn in Pike Road, paced the Rebels with 139 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Zach Evans had 136 yards rushing and a touchdown, while quarterback Jaxson Dart added 115 yards.

“I thought both those backs for Ole Miss were impressive, and they were getting downhill, they were breaking tackles, they were falling forward and getting extra yards every time they carried it,” Auburn coach Bryan Harsin said.

Ole Miss finished with its most rushing yards in a single game since at least 2000. It was the first time the Rebels eclipsed 400 yards on the ground in SEC play since 2019 against LSU. According to Harsin, Ole Miss did some things formation-wise and in terms of scheme that caused some issues, and Dart’s mobility and ability to keep it opened up some inside-zone opportunities for Judkins and Evans.

That hurt, but the missed tackles were crippling. The Rebels took advantage, finishing with 13 runs of at least 10 yards — totaling 262 yards on those big plays — including six runs of 20-plus yards.

“You look at their yards, they had about 450 yards rushing; that’s a big game,” Harsin said. “So, with those explosive runs and that consistency at the end, you’ve got to be able to slow them down. That’s hard in between the tackles, and those backs were good.”

In its last two games, Auburn’s defense has been plowed through on the ground. Georgia ran for 292 yards and six touchdowns in last weekend’s blowout between the hedges, meaning Auburn has given up 740 yards, nine touchdowns and 6.85 yards per carry in those two games.

The Tigers are allowing 204.4 yards per game on the ground this season, with 19 touchdowns, while opponents have averaged 4.85 yards per carry. Against Power 5 opponents, the numbers are more concerning: 1,303 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns, 260.6 rushing yards allowed per game and 5.54 yards per carry.

“It’s kind of been a bad trend that we’ve had this season,” linebacker Owen Pappoe said. “That needs to get corrected. We’re going into a bye week, and now everybody on the team has a chance to look in the mirror and reevaluate what we’ve been doing, because obviously it hasn’t been working.”

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

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aubiefifty · October 16, 2022

What Lane Kiffin said about No. 9 Ole Miss beating Auburn 48-34

Published: Oct. 15, 2022, 5:46 p.m.

4-5 minutes

Lane Kiffin

Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin reacts to the team's interception of an Auburn pass during an NCAA college football game in Oxford, Miss., Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022. Mississippi won 48-34. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)AP

By

Nubyjas Wilborn | nwilborn@al.com

No. 9 Ole Miss ran for 448 yards on 69 carries in Saturday’s 48-34 victory against Auburn in front of 65,423 fans at Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium.

Ole Miss is 7-0 for the first time since the 2014 season; before that, it was 1962, the last time the Rebels were 7-0 to start a season. The win also broke Auburn’s six-game winning streak in the series.

Rebels’ head coach Lane Kiffin spoke to reporters after winning against Auburn. Here’s some of what Kiffin said in Oxford.

Opening Statement…

”Really good team win. It was unusual with the delay so I was really proud of just the long time sitting there and just talking to our players about finishing the play off, and those guys really rallied and played a close game. I was very pleased on how we finished on offense and defense. You know we stopped them there, got the pick, and shut down the series. Then we gave the ball back to them and then they go those two first downs. We talked about that during the delay and evaluate what happened and we just have to stop them on defense. Those two first downs at the end of the game were good, we haven’t been great at that. That was really good to see. Obviously, this is the story of the game but we just had to stop them from running. They had three rushers with over 100 yards and there were a lot of people doing things right. Like I told the guys, we had a cool story on that play when Mingo got that catch. When we have a record setting day, they talk about how well he’s doing and how many rushing yards we had so that’s really cool when you have selfless people like that.”

On concerns about the defense…

”Obviously, that wasn’t up to our standards no matter who is in there. Unfortunately, our best player tried to go and we already played our best player from an impact standpoint. Cedric wasn’t able to play at all. He made some excuses but our guys have to step up every time because this is the middle of the season, we’re going to have injuries and obviously, we don’t have Trigg this week and we don’t have a bunch of explosive runs. Then we announced that we have lightning eight miles from here and so we have to come up with a defensive play and then I was like well we have thirty minutes to go figure it out.”

On the onside kick…

”It was a huge play for the players to make the play. Looks awesome on film. Coach did a great job of finding it and they had been practicing it all week. You know, we were struggling at that point in the game so we got the ball back in the game so I don’t think that’s what people were anticipating in the game in a high-scoring kind of game. We got to that drive so let’s do it. We get it and then they’re back on the field again so we get twenty straight snaps on defense so the players needed it. Obviously, it helped us in the game a lot.”

On conference play this year…

”I actually wasn’t one hundred percent coming into this game. We had to talk through some things so we ran the ball really well. Our tight ends and our receivers remembered to block really well and a lot of those different types of schemes got our ball in the perimeter because our guys will get to the ball in between tackles so we can take the ball around the edge and get around them.”

Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group

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aubiefifty · October 16, 2022

What Bryan Harsin said about Auburn’s 48-34 loss to No. 9 Ole Miss

Updated: Oct. 15, 2022, 5:22 p.m.|
Published: Oct. 15, 2022, 3:53 p.m.

Bryan Harsin addresses the media following Auburn's 48-34 loss at Ole Miss

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By

Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

Auburn will head into the bye week on a three-game losing streak.

Bryan Harsin’s team dropped its third straight game Saturday, falling to No. 9 Ole Miss, 48-34, in Oxford, Miss. The Tigers dug themselves a 21-point hole early in the second quarter, clawed their way back to within four early in the third quarter but ultimately couldn’t keep pace with the Rebels, who rushed for 448 yards to put Auburn away.

Harsin is set to meet with the media after the game to discuss his team’s performance. AL.com will provide live updates in the space below throughout Harsin’s postgame remarks, so be sure to refresh the page for the latest news and information from the Tigers’ head coach.

BRYAN HARSIN

-- Opens saying that the team played hard. Credits Ole Miss for running the ball well and playing physical.

- “Overall... we fought today. I saw some really positive things from a lot of our players.”

-- Pleased with the run game, especially Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter’s efforts.

-- Turnovers again a factor.

-- “These guys, they’re fighting.”

-- Message: “We’re not there yet.” Feels team is improving, but needs to take that next step to get over the hump.

-- On the improved run game: “I thought the line, it looked like -- we didn’t have many negative plays.” Also notes they had some explosive runs today, too. Line didn’t give up as much penetration, and it allowed the backs to get going.

-- On Robby Ashford’s response after being replace by T.J. Finley for a drive: “As a quarterback, that’s how you should handle it.... He did a good job.”

-- On the run defense today, says Ole Miss schemed it up well, formation-wise. “They were running hard. Their backs ran hard.” Also believes Jaxson Dart’s ability to pull it and make some plays really opened up the inside zone for Ole Miss.

-- “We had big runs; they had some big runs as well... They had 450 yards rushing. That’s a big game.”

-- On Jeremiah Wright’s start at left guard: “The plays that I watched, he did well.”

-- Says he obviously didn’t agree with the fourth-down pass interference call against Auburn in the first half. Ole Miss went on to score a touchdown on that drive. “I’m not changing (the call), at the end of the day... What I saw was our guy playing with good technique, playing hard.”

-- On his biggest takeaway 20 games into his Auburn tenure, with a 9-11 record: “These guys fight.... They want to win. They all want to win... It’s how we do it. It’s all the things we have to do to be winners leading into a game. That’s all it comes down to.” Adds that they’re trying to close the gap and find a winning formula, noting “it’s hard to win” in this league.

-- On whether he has received assurance that he will finish the season: “Like I’ve said before.... my job is to help this football team improve, win and get better.” Says, no question, he and his staff will continue working to get this team better.

-- On Ole Miss’ onside kick: “Flat out, they got us on that.... We didn’t play it well enough.”

AL.com will update this post.

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

aubiefifty · October 16, 2022

decaturdaily.com

Column | Auburn may have grown up amid track meet

Doug Segrest For the TimesDaily

4-5 minutes

There would be no second-half disappearing act for Auburn Saturday. Instead, Auburn disappeared early. And suddenly, a bleak season was looking like a black hole.

Ninth-ranked Ole Miss led Auburn 21-0 seconds into the second quarter, playing a dominating version of name-your-score.

Hire the moving vans. Order the basketball tickets. Wait ‘til next year cause 2022 was toast.

But then Robby Ashford, already benched once for a series after a dreadful start, scrambled long enough to find Koy Moore wide open for a 46-yard gain. Holes began to open for Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter. And Ashford himself found the end zone on a short keeper.

Auburn went on the road, a place it’s had so much success before, and put a scare in Lane Kiffin and Co. while the final result — Ole Miss 48, Auburn 34 — won’t soothe the wounds of a frustrating autumn on the Plains, it revealed something quite unexpected about this edition of the Tigers.

It showed a coaching staff that can, indeed, adjust — in this case, against one of the greatest mismatch exploiters in college football. It showed a team that refused to quit even en route to the woodshed.

It showed that while Auburn’s staring at the possibility of a second-straight losing season, this team hasn’t conceded a thing. And it came away from Oxford with much to build on.

Start with Ashford, the Hoover High product and Oregon transfer. His first three drives ended with a pair of punts and a pick, prompting Bryan Harsin to pull him for a series. Exit Ashford, enter T.J. Finley for the first time since he was injured in the Penn State game.

Finley floundered just as Ashford had, losing a fumble on a quarterback sack.

Cue the merry-go-round. Ashford was back in. But, this time, things were different.

Maybe the sideline view during Finley’s three plays provided a glimpse into the future. Or maybe it just ticked him off. There was evidence on the bench after the first touchdown, when Ashford and Bigsby started barking at each other.

But the results were indisputable.

After a season of seeing others grab their lunch money and run, Auburn was fighting back.

The three-touchdown deficit began dissipating. Even as Kiffin pulled out the stops — a pair of fourth-down gambits and a successful onside kick — Auburn chipped away: 21-14, 28-17, 28-24, 38-31, 41-34.

Ashford threw sparingly, but when he did, he was effective. Bigsby and Hunter were turning flashes of space into big gains, shedding Rebels tacklers along the way.

Auburn’s defense managed to make Ole Miss’ biggest threat, receiver Jonathan Mingo, a no-show.

But as the skies darkened, so did Auburn hopes. Because there was no answer for the Ole Miss running game. Three different backs cracked the century-mark and the Rebels gutted Auburn for 448 rushing yards on the day. Quinshon Judkins accomplished his feat with 6 minutes remaining in the game, finding a crease and exploding 41 yards untouched to put the game, finally, out of reach.

For emphasis, Mother Nature followed with a nearby bolt of lightning to force a weather delay.

Unlike the Braves and Dodgers, Auburn showed little ill effect from the long time off, driving near midfield. But the last gasp ended with an interception throw by Ashford, who was running for his life.

For Auburn, an off week comes at an opportune time.

The question now will be what fireworks follow. The expectation was that if Auburn makes a move, now would be the perfect time to let Harsin go. But after Auburn’s performance Saturday, it may be time to rethink that.

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aubiefifty · October 16, 2022

SNAP JUDGMENTS: Ole Miss 48, Auburn 34

JackCondon@CollegeAndMag

4-5 minutes

MMMMM Auburn ran for more than 300 yards, had three pretty good quarters, and lost by two touchdowns. When the offense finally starts to figure it out a bit, the defense completely fails. Let’s just end this charade.

All today proved to me is that there is plenty of talent on this team to be more competitive. These backs are really good. The OL can at least push someone around. To be honest, now we know why the coaching staff might have believed they could run the ball well this year, because this defense cannot stop the run. Especially with limited rotation and injuries. This team remains poorly coached. Turnovers against played a huge part. The surprise onside kick was embarrassing. This needs to be the end. It probably won’t be, but it needs to be.

-James Jones

-AU Chief

A bad PI call was devastating but this game was lost due to this team being poorly coached. Special teams kickoff alignments exposing an onside kick that’s likely been there on film for weeks along with an undisciplined team that doesn’t fall on fumbled footballs laying on the ground or communicate in the secondary during motions is a team that hasn’t been prepared from the spring onward to play winning football. We have enough players to beat Ole Miss. We showed that today. But the work over the spring and summer on some basic level fundamentals was missing which proved enough to be the difference and swing this game.

I don’t know when Bryan Harsin will be fired. I hope it’s early in the morning of Sunday October 16, 2022. The reality is that it may be a situation where this roster might have such a mass exodus to sit out until the portal opens that firing him now does more harm than good. Not that they’re doing more than the bare minimum now, but this Boise staff in Auburn might as well just punch the clock if he’s gone. The players could suffer for that. We’re not in the meetings…to see just how bad this is with him, and therefore can’t see how bad this might actually get without him. I’d still fire him tomorrow if I had my way. We need to get to work on naming the next AD in the next 7-14 days. We need to work on a consensus among stakeholders, including the new AD, on the next head coach. What we don’t have to do is reset a coaching market that is already ours for the taking. But I think the work behind the scenes makes it worth it to go ahead, pay this awful fit of a football coach his money, and we never speak of this horrific coaching tenure ever again as soon as possible.

-Josh Black

We are Isaac Okoro days away from the return of Auburn Basketball.

-Will McLaughlin

I spent all day at the State Fair of Texas. Had a fried charcuterie board and a deep fried Reese’s peanut butter cup topped with blue bell vanilla ice cream. 10/10 day.

-Son of Crow

Just sad at this point. Want more for these players. Guys like Derick Hall & Tank Bigsby who keep working their butts off trying to win football games. It just sucks.

-AU Nerd

I really enjoyed the All-22 view we got of Ole Miss rushing for 430 yards today, that was cool. But for real, after watching Tennessee just play balls out for 60 minutes, I literally only want to have fun watching football again. It shouldn’t be hard. It shouldn’t be difficult to do that, and we saw some things that suggest we have the dudes to play that way. We’re just deficient in a couple of key areas, namely the sideline. The bye week should be a good opportunity to make some changes, because we can’t get better until the problem is removed.

-Jack Condon

aubiefifty · October 16, 2022

aubiefifty · October 16, 2022

aubiefifty · October 17, 2022

Jason Caldwell's Monday morning quarterback column

Jason Caldwell

3-4 minutes

Assessing Auburn through seven games

It’s tough to figure out this Auburn team, even after more than half of the regular season is in the books. I fully expected this offense to struggle with key pieces gone from last year, and that has definitely been the case. I did think the Tigers would be able to run the football better, but everyone underestimated the loss of Nick Brahms in the preseason and what it would mean for Auburn’s offensive line. Throw in a second injury to Tate Johnson and it has created some big issues up front. The good news is that more injuries led to Jeremiah Wright getting a shot, which looks like it’s something the Tigers can build on.

The inability to run the football consistently has only added to the issues Auburn has had at the quarterback position. Too many turnovers and a poor completion percentage have the Tigers 115th nationally in QB rating as a team. Virginia, Indiana, Colorado and Iowa are the only Power5 teams in the country lower than Auburn.

Defensively, the story has continued to be the lack of depth up front for the Tigers. With the loss of Eku Leota, it was only made things worse the last two weeks and the results have been brutal to watch with Georgia and Ole Miss combining for 740 yards and 9 touchdowns in the last two weeks.

I vividly remember sitting in the Superdome in New Orleans following the 1988 season and being shocked when Sammie Smith ran for over 100 yards against the Auburn defense in that loss to the Seminoles. That thought ran through my mind as Ole Miss was running all over the Tigers on Saturday to the tune of 448 yards on 69 carries.

Heading into the bye week, Auburn’s run defense is now 119th or worse in every statistical category in the country. I don’t care if your offense is the best in the country, it’s hard to win when you can’t stop teams from running the football.

Currently, Auburn is allowing 204.43 yards per game (120th), 4.85 yards per attempt (119th), 19 touchdowns (126th), and 1,431 yards (122nd). If you had told me in my lifetime that I would ever see those types of numbers for an Auburn defense I would have told you it was impossible. This group is already tied for the most touchdowns allowed on the ground in a full season since 2015. Against Power 5 teams, Auburn is giving up 260 yards rushing a game. Unless that gets shored up in a big way this season is very unlikely to get much better.

25COMMENTS

Great Scott

I’m not sure what he’s going to do after this season because my guess is that NFL teams are going to be intrigued by his skill set, but junior college transfer Keionte Scott has shown some really good things in seven games for the Tigers this season. With 33 tackles Scott has the ability to come up and make plays in the box from his nickel position. That’s a big deal for a defense to have that type of player in the secondary. His emergence along with Oregon transfer D.J. James has given this Auburn pass defense a big boost in the 2022 season.

">247Sports

aubiefifty · October 17, 2022

Despite struggles, Tigers continue to fight

Jason Caldwell

4 minutes

It would have been easy to just roll over. Already with three losses on the season and the hopes of making it to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game long gone, the Auburn Tigers could have packed it in when Ole Miss took an early 21-0 lead on Saturday. But that didn’t happen.

Despite losing 48-34, Bryan Harsin’s team kept battling until the final whistle.

Now 3-4 on the season and dropping three consecutive games in league play, Auburn finds itself with two weeks to think about things before getting back on the field against the Arkansas Razorbacks. While rest and rehab are two of the most needed things for a banged-up Auburn squad, Harsin said one thing he knows he’ll get from this team is effort.

“These guys fight,” the second-year coach said. “That's one thing. They come back, and they'll come back in on Sunday, and they lock in. They pay attention. They want to win. They all want to win. I don't think that's ever been anything that I haven't felt from our players. They want to win. You know, it's how we do it. It's all the things that we have to do to be winners leading up to a game. That's really when it comes down to.

“You know, those guys, they care about their performance, they care about their team. They care about what's going on, and I appreciate them. You want to be around anybody — it doesn't matter what profession you're in — you want to be around people that care. I mean, those guys show up every day, give a crap, and they repeat. I mean, it's really how they operate.”

It was a very forgettable day for the Auburn defense after giving up what felt like a mile of rushing yards to Ole Miss. Already without Eku Leota, the Tigers were a wounded bunch on Saturday with Marcus Harris getting banged up early, Colby Wooden late and others like Derick Hall shaken up at times as well.

Even though it wasn’t going like they had hoped, Hall said the ultimate job for everyone on this team is just to keep playing hard.

“I think this team is very resilient, as I have mentioned multiple times,” Hall said. “Guys really love the game of football so it’s no surprise to me. We just have to keep building off that. We’re moving in the right direction and starting to play as a team and we’re starting to put points on the board. We have to get stops for those guys when they go out and score and give them the ball back. It’s something we have to continue to work on.”

13COMMENTS

As the losses begin to mount, the job only gets tougher for Harsin, the players and the staff the rest of the way. With some very difficult games still ahead, Hall said this week is an important one for this team to get ready for the home stretch as it tries to build some momentum.

“The biggest thing is just being available every Saturday,” Hall said of the injury issues. “You just have to be good and healthy for four hours. Everything else you can deal with. That’s my motto throughout the week. Guys are banged up and things happen, but the biggest thing is being available for four hours on a Saturday. This bye week is definitely going to help us mentally and physically just to get a chance to relax and go home and get away. It will be beneficial for us. It has really been a strain.”

aubiefifty · October 17, 2022

Auburn football: Did Auburn gain a coach and a quarterback in the loss on Saturday?

Glenn Sattell Glenn Sattell is an award-winning freelance writer for Saturday Down South.

4-5 minutes

Bryan Harsin will make a program successful. It may not be Auburn’s, that remains to be seen, but he will be a winner somewhere. It’s almost inevitable, given the fight, the determination and the drive he’s instilled in an outmanned Auburn team this season.

And while Auburn may or may not have found itself a coach on Saturday in a slugfest loss to No. 9 Ole Miss on the road, It may very well have gained a quarterback.

As the Tigers refuse to give up without a fight despite the losses piling up this season, the will to compete was personified best by quarterback Robby Ashford on Saturday.

The redshirt freshman struggled mightily in his first few series, which included an interception that led to an Ole Miss touchdown. He was overexcited for the big SEC start, hoping to bounce back after a dismal showing against then No. 2 Georgia.

Harsin saw this, it appeared, and understood that his starting QB needed to sit for a series and settle down. So, he yanked the young signal-caller, a move that might have worked the opposite way had he not been given an opportunity that afternoon to made amends. Confidence is often fragile in young players.

After one series with T.J. Finley under center, which resulted in another turnover, Harsin reinserted Ashford, a move that may end up proving to change the course of the program both for Ashford and for Harsin. That’s because Ashford looked like a seasoned veteran after that and Auburn fought valiantly to the end on Saturday.

Whether or not Ashford would have reentered if Finley had driven the Tigers down the field, only Harsin knows, but it’s clear that Ashford is QB1 moving forward, and his brief respite for that one series accomplished what Harsin had hoped. Ashford was a different quarterback after that.

He didn’t bring the Tigers a victory, but he did everything in his power to do so. He doesn’t play defense, but what he does is generate some much-needed offense.

Ashford spread the wealth in a passing game that didn’t break records but kept the chains moving and kept the Ole Miss defense somewhat off balance. He completed passes to 7 receivers, connecting for gains of 46, 32, 23 and 19 yards (all of those to different pass catchers).

For the game, Ashford completed 8 or 17 passes for 140 yards. He threw two interceptions, which must be addressed, but for the most part he moved the offense consistently. In many games 34 points would be enough to put a mark in the win column.

He also added 35 rushing yards, including a 22-yard scamper, and scored 2 running touchdowns.

Statistically, he wasn’t impressive. In leading the team up and down the field, that’s where he looked like he belonged.

Auburn’s unwavering fight and team effort is what made Harsin look like he belonged on the sidelines. His never-quit attitude is reflected in this team. That’s certainly not the issue.

Now, bringing talent to the Plains is what will make Auburn relevant again. Can Harsin do that? It remains to be seen. What also remains to be seen is if Harsin be given that opportunity.

It appears as though Auburn will make that decision after it brings in a new athletics director. That, too, remains to be seen.

aubiefifty · October 17, 2022

Ole Miss again brings out Tank Bigsby's best; RB passes Michael Dyer on career list

Published: Oct. 16, 2022, 11:00 a.m.

5-6 minutes

There’s something about playing Ole Miss that brings out the best in Tank Bigsby.

Three of the running back’s best career games have come against the Rebels, with the latest installment registering as arguably the best rushing performance of his career. Bigsby ran for 179 yards and a pair of touchdowns during Auburn’s 48-34 loss to Ole Miss, helping keep the Tigers in the game after falling behind by 21 points early in the second quarter.

It was Bigsby’s third career 100-yard effort in as many games against the Rebels.

Read more Auburn football: Grading Auburn’s 48-34 loss to Ole Miss

That one sucked”: Ole Miss’ surprise onside kick looms large for Auburn in loss

Auburn’s run defense decimated by Ole Miss in worst performance in 20 years

“I don’t even think it’s Ole Miss, man,” linebacker Owen Pappoe said. “Tank’s a guy who just shows up every day and gives his all. He had a good game today, man. A good bit of electric runs.”

That was a modest assessment by Pappoe. Bigsby’s effort against Ole Miss was a virtuoso performance by a true NFL talent who has struggled to get things going behind a less-than-stellar offensive line this season.

Bigsby’s 179 rushing yards against the Rebels was the second-best single-game total of his career, surpassed only by the 192 yards he racked up against Mississippi State in the final game of his freshman season. Bigsby matched a career high with two rushing touchdowns Saturday, and his 9 yards per carry marked a career-high against Power 5 competition and the fourth-best average overall; he averaged 11.1 yards per carry against Alabama State last season and 9.2 yards per carry against both Mercer in this year’s opener and against Akron in last year’s opener.

It also moved him past Michael Dyer and Stacy Danley and into 12th on Auburn’s career rushing list (2,457 yards), just 37 yards behind Kerryon Johnson (2,494) in the program record book.

“I was really proud of Tank; he went hard,” Auburn coach Bryan Harsin said. “He got vertical, he stuck his foot in the ground and got vertical on quite a few runs, and it showed. He was able to create some explosive plays that way.”

In three career games against the Rebels, Bigsby has run for 448 yards and five touchdowns. He averages 149.3 rushing yards per game and 6.69 yards per carry against Ole Miss for his career. Those are easily his best career numbers against any team he has played more than once.

Of Bigsby’s 20 carries against Ole Miss on Saturday, six went for at least 10 yards, including a pair of 50-yard runs that were his two longest carries of the season. One of those 50-yarders was a touchdown on Auburn’s opening drive of the second half, which cut Ole Miss’ lead to four — the closest the Tigers got all game after falling behind 21-0 early.

While the explosive runs were plentiful at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, for both teams, the more notable stat for Bigsby was that only two of his 20 touches went for no gain or a loss of yards; he had one run stopped at the line of scrimmage and one for a 1-yard loss. Other than that, the junior was largely able to avoid contact behind the line of scrimmage — something that has impacted his overall production this season behind a subpar offensive line.

Bigsby’s big game against Ole Miss ended a career-worst stretch for the talented running back. He’d been held to 51 yards or fewer in five straight games and entered Saturday’s game averaging just 2.94 yards per carry against Power 5 opponents this season, which was 36th among qualifying SEC rushers, ahead of only a trio of quarterbacks.

“We game planned to run the ball this game, so it was opportunities,” Bigsby said. “So, I took advantage of them. It wasn’t that we were playing Ole Miss. It’s just the opportunities were there ,and we took advantage of it.”

Against the Rebels, the Tigers’ offensive line had its best game of the season against quality competition. Not only did the group pave the way for Bigsby’s 179 yards, but its improved blocking up front allowed Auburn to run for 301 total yards and four touchdowns while averaging 7.3 sack-adjusted yards per carry. It was Auburn’s first 300-yard rushing game against a Power 5 opponent since 2017 against Arkansas.

“Those guys came out running the ball hard,” Bigsbys said of his offensive line. “Throughout the game today, the confidence got higher and higher, and we just stuck with it. We said we were going to run down their throat and that was the mentality of the game. That’s what we came in to do.”

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

aubiefifty · October 17, 2022