It’s been a rough two weeks for Auburn football.
Since riding the high of knocking off No. 1 Georgia earlier this month, Auburn has quickly descended back to a beatable opponent. Ole Miss is the latest to deliver a beatdown of the Tigers, defeating Auburn 45-15 Saturday.
The Rebels outscored Auburn 31-6 in the second half to power themselves to victory.
“We give up 28 straight without an answer,” said head coach Alex Golesh. “That was disappointing. I thought it was a lack of finish, and that was the first time I've seen that out of this team this year. That's as disappointing as anything, and I've got to figure that piece out. That's the part that's making me sick is the lack of finish.”
Auburn’s last score was Byrum Brown’s rushing touchdown with 6:20 remaining in the game to cut it to 17-15 in favor of Ole Miss. It cut into the deficit, and while the two-point conversion attempt fell short, the game still felt within reach.
Then everything fell apart.
The offense went stagnant, totaling just 107 yards of total offense for the remainder of the game. Auburn went punt, turnover on downs, fumble and end of the game to close things out.
On the other side, Trinidad Chambliss and the Ole Miss offense carved Auburn’s defense like a jack-o-lantern on Halloween. Ole Miss accumulated over 300 yards of total offense in the second half, as Chambliss found his groove as a passer and as a runner.
“We're a hair off on keeping him in the pocket, we're past the point of the quarterback in the pocket, we're at the point of attack and don't make the play,” Golesh said. “It's a culmination of a bunch. They did a really good job of finishing, and we didn't. It's not like there's guys running wide open or anything like that. We're at the point of attack and didn't make a play.”
Chambliss finished the night 22-for-34 for 263 yards passing, two touchdowns and an interception, while adding 65 yards rushing on seven carries. All 65 yards rushing were in the second half.
“He started using his legs a lot more,” said linebacker Bryce Deas. “We knew was gonna do that. But as coach said today, some of those plays, we didn't just do good enough. We gotta do good enough. We gotta go back and work.”
Auburn returns to Jordan Hare Stadium next week to face Arkansas at 11:45 a.m. CST on Nov. 7.
Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.
