Countdown to Kickoff: 29 Days

Back in 2009, we were in phase one of the Gus Malzahn project, although he didn’t have anything to do with the play featured in today’s edition of the Countdown to Kickoff.

Gene Chizik was in the midst of his first season as head coach on the Plains, we had barely ever heard of Cam Newton, and we were all pretty pleased with the resurgent offense led by Chris Todd.

Auburn opened the year 5-0, capping that streak with a win over Lane Kiffin on Rocky Top, before suffering three straight losses to Arkansas, Kentucky, and LSU. The Tigers sat at 5-3 with a desperate need for a get-right game, and it came on Halloween against Ole Miss.

Ole Miss opened the scoring, but the Tigers answered with 31 unanswered points that included touchdown passes to Darvin Adams and Tommy Trott, a 53-yard run by Ben Tate, and a foreshadowing tipped pick six by Walt McFadden covering 29 yards.

The pick six gave Auburn a 24-7 lead just a few minutes into the third quarter. It would be followed up by Tate’s burst to put Auburn up 31-7, and then a Demond Washington two-point conversion on a failed PAT produced the final points for the Tigers.

McFadden would end up besting this interception several weeks later in the Outback Bowl against Northwestern with his 100-yard scoring snag, but it all started right here against Ole Miss.

War Eagle!