Auburn is heading into its game against No. 10 Ole Miss rested, relaxed and most importantly healthy.
Auburn played seven straight weeks of football games before its bye week. Defensive end Colby Wooden said it couldn’t have come at a better time.
“The bye week was amazing,” Wooden said. “It was relaxed. It was great.”
While the Rebels had a game last week, a 14-point win over LSU, Auburn players got to recuperate from the already long season. Players that had previously been banged up or were nursing injuries, were able to take time off and recover.
Head coach Bryan Harsin said he expects all injured players to return for Saturday’s homestand.
During his bye week, Wooden said he went home and visited with his family.
“I got to go home, watch my little brother, spend some time with my mom and my father,” Wooden said. “It was cool, relaxed.”
Wooden’s little brother is a commitment to Auburn. Caleb Wooden, a 6-foot-2 safety, is a verbal commit for the class of 2022.
In the shorter term, however, Wooden pointed out that during the bye week, Auburn “got some key members back on defense.”
Most notably, linebacker Owen Pappoe has been sidelined on and off since the team’s game against Penn State. Pappoe has not played a full game in Auburn’s last four. Having the team’s vocal and physical leader back on defense against Ole Miss’s prolific offense certainly cannot hurt.
Senior defensive end T.D. Moultry has also been sidelined since the LSU game.
Against Ole Miss and Heisman Trophy frontrunner quarterback Matt Corral, Wooden says the Auburn defense has to do its job, much akin to what it did in the victory against No. 17 Arkansas.
“We gotta stay in our gaps, do our jobs. And tackle. We gotta tackle,” Wooden said.
Auburn has won its last five games against the Rebels, also winning eight of the last 10. But this Ole Miss team is dynamic, high-flying and deserving of its top-10 rank.
Ole Miss boasts the number two offense in the SEC in total yards and the number one offense in yards per game. The Rebels are fourth in passing yards per game and second in rushing yards per game. Safe to say, Ole Miss wants to run the score up.
For Wooden and his defensive core, he says the team has to go back to its fundamentals, something defensive coordinator Derek Mason preached during the bye week.
"We just got to stay ready. We just got to be ready to play that next play,” Wooden said. “Let's go play."
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Henry Zimmer is from Jacksonville, Florida, and is currently in his fifth year with The Plainsman. He is currently the Sports Reporter and can be followed on Twitter here: @henryzimmer
