It is officially the ending to the month of October and the second full month of the college football season, one that has presented a lot of chaos around the nation, but a lot of highlight games at the same time.
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The Auburn Tigers are now at the final game of their most difficult stretch of the season, one that has featured four games against four ranked opponents in the middle of the schedule.
That game comes on the road once again, as the Tigers will take on the Ole Miss Rebels in Oxford, Mississippi on Saturday.
Ole Miss enters the game 5-2 overall with a 3-2 marking in the SEC, having lost a tight 34-27 game to the Texas Longhorns in Austin, Texas over the weekend.
The primetime matchup, it was the Longhorns that struck first on the scoreboard, taking their first drive of the game well into field goal range for Gianni Spetic to kick one through from 23 yards out. That field goal capped off a 12-play, 69-yard drive to make it 3-0.
The Rebels responded with a field goal of their own later in the first quarter, as Lucas Carneiro drove one through the uprights from 46 yards.
At the end of the opening 15 minutes though, Texas struck back as a big run and a big pass set up Arch Manning to do a quarterback run into the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown to push it to a 10-3 game.
The Longhorns got in a groove from there, extending the lead once again in the early part of the second quarter. Manning launched a pass down field on the fifth play of a drive to find Ryan Wingo for a 50-yard touchdown pass to get things to 17-3.
Ole Miss put up a three-and-out on its ensuing possession, and Texas got the ball back before proceeding to go out once again and take six plays to get into the end zone, capped off by a 2-yard run from Michael Terry III.
At 24-3 , the Rebels were in a major hole at the half, but out of the break, things turned up for them.
On the Longhorns’ opening drive of the third quarter, Manning was sacked deep in Texas territory. The ball came out on the sack, and Kam Franklin recovered it in the end zone to make it 24-10.
Then, in the middle of third quarter, Ole Miss got the ball back thanks to a Longhorns punt and made its way back down the field again in 10 plays to secure a touchdown pass from Trinidad Chambliss to Horatio Fields, suddenly drawing it to 24-17.
Texas punted again at the tail end of the period, allowing the Rebels the chance to tie. And they did so, only taking four plays to score with a highlight catch from Fields, tying things at 24 with 13:57 left in the game.
Manning threw an interception on the next drive, giving Ole Miss an opportunity to take the lead, but the Rebels ultimately punted.
The Longhorns got back on the right footing after that though, as Manning ran in for a 1-yard score to put his team back in front at 31-24. The Rebels proceeded to then miss a field goal, while Texas knocked one in from 33 yards to make it 34-24.
Carneiro converted on a 39-yard kick with 1:22 remaining in the game to cut things to 34-27, and while Ole Miss got the ball back on an onside kick and had a shot at the end zone to end regulation, Chambliss threw an interception on the final play of the game, and the Longhorns walked out winners.
Chambliss finished the night 25-for-52 through the air with 250 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions, showing his fair share of successes and mistakes. His quarterback rating was 60.3.
Makhi Frazier led the Rebels in rushing yardage with six carries for 47 yards, while Kewan Lacy put up 16 rushes for 36 yards.
Deuce Alexander, Caleb Odom and Fields all had notable days on the receiving end, each having a long catch of more than 20 yards for the game. Alexander led things with eight catches for 87 yards, with Odom reeling in five for 59. Fields meanwhile only had three receptions for 50 yards, but two of those went for touchdowns.
Keaton Thomas was the leader of the defense in terms of total tackles with eight on the game. Antonio Kite, Joenel Aguero, Tah’j Batler and Franklin all tied behind with six.
Auburn and Ole Miss will do battle for the first time since 2023 on Saturday, kicking off at 11:45 a.m. CST on the SEC Network.
Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.
