Auburn (4-3, 2-3 SEC) at No. 12 Ole Miss (5-2, 3-2 SEC) Saturday, Oct. 31 · 11:45 a.m. CT · Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, Miss. · SEC Network
The setup
Ole Miss is coming off its toughest loss of the season — a 34-27 defeat at Texas in which the Rebels fell behind 24-3 at halftime, tied it with 21 unanswered points, then watched Arch Manning and the Longhorns pull away. Trinidad Chambliss threw for 250 yards on 25-of-52 passing with two touchdowns and a career-high three interceptions, and the Rebels are now No. 12 in the AP poll after sitting at No. 7 a week ago.
The sting is sharper because of how the margin was lost. Golding’s biggest regret, he said, was the decision before halftime — a fourth-and-goal call at the Texas 2 with 1:41 left before the break that came up empty rather than a chip-shot field goal.
“What I was really kicking myself about was the decision before the half,” Golding said. “It was still going to be three-possession game regardless but, still, when you crawl back in games, points matter.”
A blocked 58-yard field goal late turned into a Texas score, closing the window.
Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding
Auburn arrives on the other end of the same weekend, having lost 38-17 at home to LSU on Oct. 24. The Tigers are 4-3 and 2-3 in the SEC, but that record hides a season-defining result: a 27-17 win over then-No. 1 Georgia on Oct. 17. It’s a team that has already proved it can beat anyone in the league on a given Saturday.
Golding’s read on Auburn
The Rebels head coach used his Monday press conference to make clear his team isn’t looking past a two-loss-in-three-weeks Auburn. He started with the quarterback.
“Obviously the offense runs through the quarterback. Dual-threat guy, leads the SEC in quarterback run game, so you’ve got to account for him on all base downs. Obviously, there’s quarterback-designed runs and then the ability to extend the play. Really strong arm. I mean, there’s one of those he throws about 75, 80 yards in the air, hits him in stride.”
Byrum Brown’s legs were the theme. Golding noted this Auburn offense features “a little more quarterback-designed run than we’ve seen this year up to this point” — a specific problem for an Ole Miss defense that ranks 104th nationally in third-down defense, allowing opponents to convert 41.3 percent of the time. Auburn’s offense converts 43.0 percent on third down, 47th in the country.
On the other side of the ball, Golding pointed to Auburn defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin:
“I think Durkin’s always done a really, really good job everywhere he’s been. Obviously, a lot of familiarity with the system. I’ve gone against it several different times.”
That familiarity matters. Texas held Ole Miss to 113 rushing yards and kept Chambliss off rhythm with pressure looks — a Durkin defense is likely to test whether the Rebels’ protection issues were a one-week problem or a pattern.
The Lacy question
The biggest personnel news out of Monday: running back Kewan Lacy dislocated his shoulder against Texas and will not play against Auburn. It’s the same shoulder he injured against LSU in September, though Golding described this one as a different, more serious injury.
“Kewan dislocated a shoulder in the game, so it wasn’t exactly what it was before. It was different… he’s not going to play this week, and then we’re going to evaluate that moving forward, kind of what that looks like. So I know normally we wouldn’t tell you that, but there’s no chance that we’re going to try that at all this week.”
Golding said Lacy is still undergoing rehab and further imaging.
Lacy carried 16 times for 36 yards before leaving. Makhi Frazier, who posted a career-high 101 yards against Missouri, took six carries for 47 yards in relief and is expected to move to the top of the depth chart. But Golding framed the fix as a committee.
“I think Makhi’s come in and played well. I think with Kewan being out this week, Shekai’s going to have a real opportunity this week as well. Obviously, JT’s still in the room that we’ve got to find some things for him to do. But I think between those three guys, and then Josh got in there and did some good things… we’re going to need all those guys moving forward, to be honest with you.”
Shekai Mills-Knight, JT Lindsey and Joshua Dye all enter the rotation. The more immediate concern may be Chambliss’s own rushing production — he has been held under 10 rushing yards in three straight games.
Slow starts and the road ahead
Ole Miss has scored on its opening drive only once this season, and Golding said it’s an every-week evaluation without a single cause.
“Whether we’re coming out from a play-concept standpoint, it’s always run, it’s always pass, just the execution and the timing early hasn’t been perfect.”
He also clarified his postgame remark about there being “no more days off,” acknowledging he’d muddled the message since players are contractually owed a day off.
“Look, you still get Monday off. I’m not meaning that. I’m saying, like, hey, when you’re here within meetings, at practice and all that, we’ve got to focus.”
What’s at stake
Four of Ole Miss’s final five games are in Oxford, where the Rebels have won 15 straight — and Auburn is the first of them. A loss here effectively ends any College Football Playoff path for a team with two losses and Georgia, Oklahoma and Mississippi State still ahead.
Golding isn’t pretending the stakes are hidden from his locker room.
“I’m not naive enough to not think that they realize, all right, our backs are against the wall now.”
Both teams have something to prove on Halloween afternoon: Ole Miss that the Texas loss was a stumble rather than a ceiling, and Auburn that beating Georgia wasn’t the season’s only trick.