Rebel Reset: No. 13 Ole Miss wins at Auburn for elusive night game victory. Here's how it happened.
For the first time in the series history Ole Miss has beaten Auburn at night inside Jordan-Hare Stadium.
The 28-21 victory was not a pretty one, with the middle half of the game one to forget about, but the Rebels offense arrived when it needed it to.
Ole Miss rushed for 223 yards and Quinshon Judkins had his second 100-yard game in his last three, rushing for 124 yards and a touchdown.
Jaxson Dart threw for 202 yards and a touchdown with Tre Harris recording his third 100-yard game of the season with 102 yards on four catches.
Below are the highlights.
FINAL: OLE MISS 28, AUBURN 21
Ole Miss 28, Auburn 14 7:51 4Q
Judkins gets his first touchdown of the night with a four-yard run and Ole Miss has breathing room with less than eight minutes remaining. An unnecessary roughness penalty on Auburn moved the Rebels inside the 5 yard-line to set up Judkins’ score.
Ole Miss has rushed for nearly 219 yards and Judkins is over the century mark with 119 on 19 carries. Harris has surpassed the 100-yard mark after that catch of 36 yards to put the Rebels in the red zone.
END OF THE 3RD QUARTER: OLE MISS 21, AUBURN 14
Good time for Tre Harris to re-emerge. He makes back-to-back catches of 29 and 24 yards to get the Rebels off offense moving again. Dart punctuates the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to end the quarter, his second rush touchdown of the game.
Since Auburn’s touchdown to tie the game early in the second quarter there have been nine punts, two turnover on downs and the end of a half. A Big Ten game broke out here on The Plains.
More punting for the third quarter as the Rebels defense continues to do its part. Watkins was back for the punt return. Rebels ball at their 10.
Ole Miss punts it away for the second time this half. Watkins made his first appearance in the game that drive but was not targeted.
The decision to go for it does not hurt the Rebels with the Tigers forced to punt after a Jared Ivey sack. Ole Miss ball at its 20 coming up.
Ole Miss gets the ball to start the second half but the drive stalls right after it gets into Auburn territory. Rebels punt it away but a penalty on the Tigers makes it a 4th and 5 opportunity that Kiffin elects to go for and the offense is not successful with Franklin a couple yards short.
1st Half Stats:
HALFTIME: OLE MISS 14, AUBURN 14
Just been kind of a weird end to the half as Robby Ashford throws a deep ball that is picked off by John Saunders, Jr. Rebels get the ball back at their 12 with 54 seconds left.
Not the drive Ole Miss wanted. After nice 29-yard catch by Prieskorn the drive went backwards and ending with a 7-yard sack of Dart. Rebels will punt it away and Tigers will have a little over a minute left in the half.
Auburn is forced to punt it away but Wade misplays the ball and Tigers nearly got a break but the Rebels recovered it. Rebels have a chance to double dip as they will get the ball to start the second half.
Ole Miss goes for the 28-yard field goal try and it goes nowhere after Charlie Pollack muffs the hold and then his throw falls incomplete.
But now Auburn has the ball at its 5 and the defense has a chance to get a short field again before halftime.
Fraser Masin with a 54-yard punt backs up Auburn and the Rebels defense forces them to punt it right back. Wade with a 13-yard return to the Rebels 33 to start its fifth drive of the game.
Ole Miss 14, Auburn 14 11:44 2Q
Hunter scores on a 1-yard direct snap and Tigers cash in on Dart’s turnover. Despite the miscue the Ole Miss offense has looked good against the Auburn defense and was moving the ball prior to the turnover. Time to answer again.
Well, Auburn breaks serve as well with an interception after Franklin tipped a pass up in the air and into the arms of defensive back Donovan Kaufman for 41 yards. Tigers start inside the Ole Miss 30.
Ole Miss is the first to break serve and forces the first punt of the night. Dayton Wade was the returner, despite Watkins practicing catches pre game.
END OF THE 1ST QUARTER: OLE MISS 14, AUBURN 7
Ole Miss 14, Auburn 7 :24 1Q
Preiskorn makes his presence felt with a 35-yard catch after a perfect throw by Dart. On the same drive Kiffin is faced with his first 4th and short but the Rebels convert with a 29-yard touchdown run by Dart, who was untouched.
Rebels with 93 rushing yards in the first 14:36 of the game.
Ole Miss 7, Auburn 7 2:59 1Q
Jarquez Hunter breaks through the line and a tackle for the 53-yard touchdown run and the Tigers answer.
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Ole Miss 7, Auburn 0 4:55 1Q
Dart finds Franklin for the 11-yard touchdown pass, Franklin’s first as a Rebel. Minus the penalties the offense looked good on its first chance.
Ole Miss got a pair of holding calls and false starts on its opening possession but Judkins was motivated and determined to not have the drive stall. A 21-yard run and 17-yard run gets them in the red zone.
Judkins had a 24-yard run on third down but a holding call negated it. Then Tre Harris induces a pass interfence call and the Rebels keep their drive going.
Freeze is the first to go for it on a 4th and short situation but the Ole Miss defense was up to the task with Khari Coleman tackling Robby Ashford short of the yard needed. Rebels get the ball at midfield.
Pregame Observations
Jordan Watkins is out and fully dressed for warm ups, but wearing a contraption of sorts and heavily taped right hand. We shall see what that means come kickoff.
Watkins is catching punts with relative ease, though that probably is not putting much strain on the hand.
Franklins and Harris are dressed out and look to have no limitations and no braces, wraps.
Captains are JJ Pegues (because of course), Cedric Johnson and Tre Harris. Auburn won the toss and elected to get the ball first.
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The bye week is over and the final push to the 2023 season begins on Saturday for No. 13 Ole Miss as it travels to a floundering Auburn.
Once again the Rebels (5-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) return to ‘The Plains’ to take on the Tigers (3-3, 0-3) in an environment that has not been kind to them, historically. A night game in Jordan-Hare is the kryptonite for Ole Miss which is 0-9 in games that start after sunset at Auburn’s home stadium.
Lane Kiffin and the Rebels are the better team on paper this year and are looking for a second straight win over Auburn in the series since 1951-52, but the fourth-year head coach is aware of the ‘magic’ Jordan-Hare possesses.
Saturday’s game includes a lot of returns and homecomings of sorts for Ole Miss players. Defensive lineman JJ Pegues is back inside Jordan-Hare Stadium for the first time since transferring back home to Oxford after the 2021 season. Pegues is planning to keep his emotions in check while back on The Plains.
This game is also a return home for Ole Miss running back Quinshon Judkins. Prior to signing with the Rebels Judkins spent his high school career at Pike Road High School, less than an hour away from Auburn.
One question looms over the Rebels offense and that is the status of top receiver Jordan Watkins who suffered a broken hand during a bye week practice. Watkins under went surgery, reported by The Ole Miss Spirit’s Chuck Rounsaville. When asked on Monday regarding Watkins status Kiffin said he anticipates him playing this week.
If Watkins cannot go look for more out of a now-healthy Zakhari Franklin and Tre Harris as both will pick up the slack against an Auburn pass defense that is sixth in the SEC, giving up 216 yards per game.
Keep this page open and stick with The Ole Miss Spirit as it will serves as the live updates for today’s game. That includes score updates, stats, highlights and quarter recaps which will be found here throughout the night.
Ole Miss and Auburn kickoff at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN.
