What: Auburn Tigers vs Ole Miss Rebels
Where: Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, MS.
When: 7:00pm EST / 6:00pm CDT
How to Watch: ESPN (the main channel) or through ESPN3 or the WatchESPN App
Where to Listen: The Auburn broadcast can be found online here.
Line: The line is currently Ole Miss by 2 through most sites according to ESPN. This is the first time Auburn has not been favored in a game all season.
Preview:
Auburn's defense has struggled some of late, particularly against the pass, but Ole Miss' offense hasn't exactly been all that stellar the last few games, either. If you've read my Q&A with Red Cup Rebellion, then you know that Bo Wallace is just an inconsistent quarterback. When it comes to their offense vs our defense, I'm actually feeling a little more confident, now. If there's one thing that Mississippi State and South Carolina had, it's a great running back. That threat to run is one thing that really hurt our pass defense as we had to account for it. Ole Miss doesn't have that big home-run threat, and therefore I think we'll be able to pressure Bo Wallace more and make some stops.
As for our offense... well, the Ole Miss "Land Shark" defense has not allowed more than 20 points in a game going back 10 games. Auburn's offense has not been held to under 20 points in a game since... Scott Loeffler. One of those has to give, and I have a feeling it will be the latter. If Ole Miss' defense was perfectly healthy, then I might say otherwise. However, I think the offense will take advantage of the newly rediscovered ability to hit the edge and Auburn will be able to gain enough yards that Duke, Sammie, and CJ are able to make some big grabs over the middle and/or deep.
And if they can hit Brandon Fulse on some more wide open plays like last weekend, well then that would be just peachy, too.
It's going to be a hard fight, that's for sure. These two teams have similar offenses, though Ole Miss has slowed theirs down a bit this season. Auburn hasn't exactly gone full throttle very often, either, though there were signs of it last weekend. It should make for a very entertaining game. Oh, and because it's on the main channel we get Brad Nessler and Todd Blackledge, which means actual good announcers, so thumbs up for that!