AUBURN, Ala. – With one top-ranked road win already on its resume, Auburn gets a similar opportunity Saturday at No. 12 Ole Miss, the Tigers’ fourth consecutive ranked opponent.
“Every week is a challenge,” Auburn coach Alex Golesh said. “It's why you come here, to play the best of the best. Really well coached football team and in a big way, a football team that knows how to win.”
After finishing eighth last season in Heisman Trophy voting after leading the Rebels to the College Football Playoff semifinals, Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss is in the mix again this season.
“Definitely one of the best players if not the best player in the country,” Auburn defensive coordinator DJ Durkin said. “He’s very comfortable with the offense, he knows where to go with the ball, really accurate throwing whether it’s from the pocket or on the move. When he gets out of the pocket, he can beat you running but he keeps his eyes downfield and can create explosive plays that way.”
Looking to play turnover-free for the third straight week, Auburn hopes to rebound against the SEC’s lowest-rated rush defense after struggling to run effectively last week against No. 18 LSU, the league’s top-rated rush defense.
“You’re going to have to push people around up front,” Auburn offensive coordinator Joel Gordon said. “We’re going to have to get them worn down, whatever it takes to do that. They’ve played in some big football games, they’ve been in that spotlight before, and they have the experience of playing together.
“They play with a bunch of confidence and you’ve got to break their will on offense to change that. You have to affect the game on offense to create explosives, score points and get those guys to doubt themselves a little bit.”
Renewing their series after a two-year gap, Auburn (4-3, 2-3) and No. 12 Ole Miss (5-2, 3-2) kick off Saturday at 11:45 a.m. CT from Oxford’s Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on SEC Network and the Auburn Sports Network, where Andy Burcham, Jason Campbell and Ronnie Brown will bring the action to listeners.
“The intent week to week and the focus week to week, it’s got to be elite or the end result is not going to be in your favor,” Golesh said Wednesday in his final media availability of the week. “They’ve been really intentional. You’ve got to be physical, but you’ve also got to monitor guys being fresh because our best shot is to go play really fast too.”