Ten first downs, 275 total yards, 122 yards passing, two turnovers and 20 points. Those were Auburn’s offensive stats Saturday night as the Tigers fell 28-21 to Ole Miss – falling to 3-4 on the season and remaining winless in conference play. The loss marked the first time Auburn has lost back-to-back games to the Rebels since 1951-52 and the first home loss to Ole Miss since 2015.
“Disappointing, our kids played hard,” said head coach Hugh Freeze. “And just feel like that we’ve got to coach them better, and it starts with me again. Irregardless of whether you may by the most talented team on a certain night, you certainly can be well coached in critical areas and critical downs and the margin for us between winning and losing right now is so small that you can’t mess those up and obviously, I’ve got to do a better job to make sure we don’t make those mistakes in those areas.”
Auburn improved its offensive stats in the fourth quarter after an Ole Miss touchdown made it a two-possession game, but prior to the fourth quarter, Auburn had just 154 total yards, 26 yards passing and five first downs.
Auburn’s passing woes also continued Saturday night. Robby Ashford got the start for the Tigers, his first start of the season, but only threw the ball four times for 22 yards and threw an interception in a tie game right before halftime. Known for the damage he causes on the ground, Ashford had just 27 yards rushing.
Payton Thorne rotated in and out with Ashford as the quarterback carousel continued for Auburn and threw for 100 yards, one touchdown and one interception while rushing for 34 yards.
While Freeze noted earlier in the season he was not a fan of rotating the quarterbacks a lot, Freeze didn’t seem to have regrets about the rotation after the game.
“I don’t think that had anything to do with the outcome of the game,” Freeze said. “I think they both had a really good package, and they both worked at times."
Jarquez Hunter was the star offensively for Auburn – rushing for 91 yards and two touchdowns while also recording 54 yards receiving. Hunter busted open a run in the first quarter for a 53-yard touchdown and scored a short touchdown out of the wildcat formation in the second quarter – which both served as a response to an Ole Miss touchdown one or two drives before.
Auburn’s defense allowed the Ole Miss offense to get out to a fast start with a touchdown on the first two opening drives, but settled in after that. The Tigers went on a run of eight consecutive drives where they kept the Rebels from scoring. Auburn recorded three three-and-outs over that run, two turnover on downs and forced one interception.
However, Auburn’s offense failed to capitalize and either punted or threw an interception on all eight of its next drives following Hunter’s second touchdown.
With the game tied near the end of the third quarter, Auburn’s defense finally ran out of stops. A balanced drive between the run and pass was capped by a touchdown run from Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart on the last play of the third quarter.
Ole Miss scored again on its next drive thanks to a 4-yard run from running back Quinshon Judkins to make it a two-possession game.
Despite the late scores allowed, Auburn’s defense made a number of impact plays – including interceptions from Donovan Kaufman and Zion Puckett in the first half. Kaufman’s interception was the second of his Auburn career while Puckett’s interception marked his first as a Tiger.
Auburn’s defense also benefited from the returns of Keionte Scott and Austin Keys, who got injured in week three and week one, respectively. The duo combined for nine tackles and Scott recorded two pass breakups.
“They make us better for sure,” Freeze said. “I thought we played decent defense against one of the more explosive offenses in the country at this point, and they were two of the reasons why.”
With the Auburn defense seemingly playing good most of the game, Auburn tight end Rivaldo Fairweather sent a promise to the defense that the offense would improve.
“It’s really frustrating for me because our defense is real, real good,” Fairweather said. “We just, at some point, we’ve got to find a way to help our defense, and we will. We’re jut gonna go back to the drawing table and go back to practice and practice hard and go out there and find a way to help our defense.”
Thorne threw a touchdown pass to Fairweather late in the game, but it wasn’t enough as Ole Miss recovered the ensuing onside kick to ice the game.
Next for Auburn, the Tigers remain at Jordan-Hare Stadium for a home contest against Mississippi State (4-3). Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CST and will be televised on SEC Network.
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Jacob Waters is a senior majoring in journalism. From Leeds, Alabama, he started with The Plainsman in August, 2021.
Twitter: @JacobWaters_
