AUBURN, Ala. – Whether in pass coverage, run support or special teams, Roger McCreary remained in the right place at the right time Saturday in Auburn's 35-28 win at Ole Miss.
On the Rebels' second drive, McCreary picked off a pass in Auburn's end zone, returning it 5 yards, preventing the Rebels from taking an early lead.
"I feel like that was a big game-changing play," said McCreary, who attempted to reprise his end zone interception return vs. Kentucky, when his pick six was negated by a penalty during the runback.
Ole Miss receiver Elijah Moore caught at least 10 passes in each of the Rebels' first four games, averaging an astounding 143.75 receiving yards per game. Against Auburn, Moore made five receptions for 16 yards. Ole Miss targeted him on the pass McCreary intercepted.
"I knew No. 8 was their best receiver," McCreary said. "When I saw him coming toward me, I knew I had to take the inside away from him and that's exactly what happened. They tried to throw on the inside behind Tutt and I was in the right spot."Roger McCreary's end zone interception stopped an early Ole Miss driveIn the third quarter, McCreary made another huge play, this time on special teams, tackling Ole Miss kicker Luke Logan for a 4-yard loss on a fake field goal toss from the holder.
"Just a great play," said Auburn coach Gus Malzahn, who awarded McCreary Auburn's helmet stickers for special teams and defense.
"My assignment was to contain the outside," McCreary said. "Once I saw the ball get thrown in the air, I saw him start running, that's when I knew this is my job, I have to stop him. I'm happy I was in the right spot to stop them from getting a first down."
The stop preserved a 14-14 tie after a 25-yard loss on an Auburn special teams miscue gave Ole Miss a short field.
"One of the turning points of the game," Malzahn said.'I have to stop him': Roger McCreary tackled the Ole Miss kicker after a fake field goal "On the sideline, everybody started talking to each other, bringing everybody up," McCreary said of the reaction to his tackle. "That really changed the game and gave the offense great momentum."
The 6-foot junior from Mobile, Alabama, made another key tackle to set up Auburn's game-winning drive when he brought down quarterback John Rhys Plumlee for a 5-yard loss that led to a third-and-15.
"The quarterback tried to run outside of me," McCreary said. "We were trying to get him down so we could give the offense the ball. I was happy that I made the tackle. I feel like that was another game-changing play that really gave the offense momentum."
McCreary's big play hat trick helped Auburn improve to 3-2 as the Tigers reached the midpoint of the 10-game, SEC-only season.
"I take great satisfaction from that," said McCreary, who made five tackles and recorded his third career interception. "Even though it doesn't seem like they were big because they weren't touchdowns, those were great to help us win. The coaches did great talking to us about how to stop them and make adjustments."
After back-to-back road games, Auburn returns to Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday to play LSU at 2:30 p.m. CT on CBS and the Auburn Sports Network. The Bengal Tigers (2-2) average 42 points per game, another challenge for McCreary and his mates in the secondary.
"We've just got to play strong like we did [Saturday vs. Ole Miss]," McCreary said. "This week, we're going to come out, start from scratch and play well."
McCreary made five tackles, inlcuding two tackles for loss vs. Ole MissJeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer