Since Gus Malzahn took the reigns as head coach of the Auburn Tigers in 2013, the program has placed heavy emphasis upon running the football.
Malzahn has had a slew of talented running backs throughout his tenure at Auburn, such as Kerryon Johnson and Tre Mason, who found ways to rack up yardage against any and all SEC opponents. However, the coach has had his greatest success on the ground against his team’s next opponent: the Ole Miss Rebels.
Dating back to his days as the Tigers’ offensive coordinator, Auburn has had first-team running backs average 164.4 rushing yards on the ground against the Rebels' defense. The run game against Ole Miss, Malzahn said Tuesday, will once again be an emphasis.
“We’re a run, play action team, we need to be effective running the football and need to continue that streak.”
The play-caller noted that Auburn will be without lead back JaTarvious Whitlow in this year’s game, despite getting carries last weekend at LSU. Malzahn said Whitlow will only be able to play in a limited role, so there will be a large rotation of backs, led by true freshman D.J. Williams, who ran for a season-high 131 yards in Death Valley. Despite Whitlow’s limited availability, Malzahn did add that he will likely see the field situationally.
“Boobee (Whitlow) is still not 100 percent, and won’t be 100% this week...We’ll see how practice goes and we’ll have a good plan," Malzahn said.
While the ground game will likely be the heart of the offense, yards may be more difficult to come by in this year’s matchup than that of last year. The Rebels returned eight starters from last season, and are not taking the Tigers' run game lightly.
When asked about how he is preparing his defense for the challenge, third-year Ole Miss head coach Matt Luke spoke highly of the Auburn rushing attack they are preparing to face.
“They have a really good mixture of power run game and speed sweeps...You have to be able to defend the perimeter," Luke said.
No. 11 Auburn, who is 18.5-point favorites, will host Ole Miss this Saturday at Jordan-Hare stadium at 6:00 p.m. CST. The game will be televised on ESPN.
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