November 1, 2014
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 | | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | F | | (4) Auburn Tigers | 7 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 35 | | (7) Ole Miss Rebels | 7 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 31 |
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| | Quick Stats | AU | Miss | | Total Plays | 68 | 72 | | 1st Downs | 22 | 25 | | 3rd down efficiency | 6-14 | 5-13 | | 4th down efficiency | 0-0 | 1-2 | | Total Yards | 502 | 487 | | Passing Yards | 254 | 341 | | Comp-Att | 15-22 | 30-42 | | Yards per pass | 5.5 | 8.1 | | Rushing Yards | 248 | 146 | | Rushing attempts | 46 | 30 | | Yards per rush | 5.5 | 5.0 | | Penalties-Yards | 13-145 | 6-48 | | Turnovers | 1 | 2 | | Fumbles lost | 0 | 2 | | Interceptions thrown | 1 | 0 | | Time of Possession | 32:11 | 27:49 |
| Stat Leaders | | Passing | C-Att | Yds | TD | Int | | AU - Marshall | 15-22 | 254 | 2 | 1 | | Miss - Wallace | 28-40 | 341 | 2 | 0 | | Rushing | Car | Yds | TD | Long | | AU - Artis-Payne | 27 | 138 | 1 | 20 | | Miss - Wallace | 14 | 90 | 1 | 59 | | Receiving | Rec | Yds | TD | Long | | AU - Coates | 5 | 122 | 1 | 57 | | Miss - Engram | 8 | 123 | 1 | 50 |
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By Charles Goldberg
AuburnTigers.com
OXFORD, Miss. -- Auburn showed again it is worthy of national acclaim, building on its No. 3 ranking in the first College Football Playoff standings with a 35-31 victory over Ole Miss.
It was a Top 4 battle in the first week of the new playoff standings, and it was a wild one. Ole Miss led by 10 in the third quarter, but the Auburn kept fighting, taking the lead and then withstanding two, make it three, late Ole Miss comeback attempts.
In a game of big plays, these were among the biggest: Cameron Artis-Payne scored on a 6-yard run to put Auburn up 35-31 with 10:23 remaining, Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace fumbled on the Tigers' 1 with 6:31 remaining and the Rebels fumbled again just as Laquon Treadwell was ready to cross the goal line with 1:30 left.
Kris Frost caused the fumble, Cassanova McKinzy recovered the fumble and Auburn survived, even one last possession by the Rebels.
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn, in summing up his 1½ years at Auburn, said the Tigers have won games in "some of the most bizarre ways." The wildness of another one?
"Our defense gave us some yards, but they came up with two turnovers and had three stops" at the end, he said.
Malzahn wouldn't talk the new playoff standings, but said "it felt like a big game. We were playing one of the better teams in the country."
No. 3 Auburn improved to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the SEC. No. 4 Ole Miss fell to 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the league.
The Tigers had to overcome their own mistakes, namely 10 penalties in the first half; and even a late one that gave Ole Miss a first down at its own 48 on a punt return to set up a potential go-ahead score.
Artis-Payne added to his rushing total, going for another 138 yards with a touchdown. Nick Marshall hit 15-of-22 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns. Sammie Coates had five catches for 122 yards and a TD. Auburn defense came up with four sacks, something everybody had been looking for.
The offense had a 90-yard-plus drive for the third straight game, and four of the last five games.
Ole Miss showed it could score quickly, doing it on a 1-play drive and a 2-play drive. But Auburn showed it could drive, going 96 yards for a go-ahead touchdown late in the third quarter, coming on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Marshall to Marcus Davis for a 28-24 lead.
Then, Ole Miss drove it a long way, taking its time until Wallace scored on 3-yard run for a 31-28 lead with 14:26 left in the fourth quarter.
Auburn had the answer, with Artis-Payne scoring what would be the winning touchdown, and the defense with a lot of big saves.
Ole Miss had built a 10-point lead early in the third quarter when Wallace threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Evan Engram. But the Tigers bounced right back.
Spurred by a 41-yard Marshall-to-Duke Williams pass, and some nifty running by Artis-Payne, Auburn marched down for a 2-yard Marshall TD run to make it Ole Miss 24, Tigers 21 with 8:30 left in the second quarter.
The flags started flying in the first half. By halftime, Auburn led the dubious penalty stats by a disturbing margin. The Tigers were penalized 10 times for 105 yards in the first two quarters on the way to 13 penalties for 145 yards. Ole Miss was penalized six times for 48 yards.
Malzahn said Auburn's penalties were "uncharacteristic" and he'd work to eliminate them.
Auburn finished with 507 yards, and had a bunch at the half, too. But Ole Miss led 17-14 at the break, gaining the lead on the final play of the first half on Gary Wunderlich's 47-yard field goal.
Auburn looked especially sporty when the game began, mixing the run with the pass on the first drive and marching smartly down the field for a quick TD. Marshall put Auburn on top with a 3-yard run, but Ole Miss answered eight minutes later on I'Tavius' 4-yard TD run.
The Rebels took the lead in the second quarter on a two-play drive included a 59-yard run by Wallace, and a 10-yard TD pass from him to Laquon Treadwell.
Auburn topped that bit of flash with a one-play drive, when Marshall hit Coates with a pretty, mostly-in-the-air 57-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 14-14 with 1:24 left in the first half.
Ole Miss quickly came back for the 47-yard field goal for the halftime lead.
In the end, that was just a footnote for Auburn on the way to next Saturday's home game against Texas A&M.
