Snap Judgments: Auburn 31, Ole Miss 16

[aubiefifty 16,772]

collegeandmagnolia.com

Snap Judgments: Auburn 31, Ole Miss 16

JackCondon

4-5 minutes

Auburn beat Ole Miss 31-16 today, and we saw good things on both sides of the ball. Here are some of the facts —

Auburn ran for 268 yards and averaged 5.8 yards per carry.

Auburn did not turn the ball over on offense.

Auburn was nearly 50% on third down (6-14).

Auburn found the true feature back in this ballgame with Boobee Whitlow going for 170 yards on just 19 carries.

Auburn’s defensive line finally made its presence known with five sacks on the day.

It’s true that none of these things are indicative of a complete turnaround, and the pressure on Gus Malzahn likely holds serve instead of actually increasing or decreasing. We still may be looking for a new coach after the season ends, but the Tigers will more than likely go to a bowl game, will get fifteen extra practices, and will have an opportunity to really improve for next season.

SNAP JUDGMENTS - Auburn 31, Ole Miss 16

“Let’s be clear: beating Ole Miss is nice but I don’t see the rumor mill slowing down a ton over the next month, especially if November goes south. For the most part, Auburn ran the ball well today. The offensive guys that made some of the biggest contributions today: Boobee Whitlow, Anthony Schwartz, Seth Williams, and Shaun Shivers are all freshmen. Those are the guys that need to be the focal points of the offense the rest of the year. That quartet also gives me hope for next year’s team. The win today means we’ll likely get to at least 6-6 and 15 extra bowl practices will be valuable for the 2019 Auburn team. The defense bent but didn’t break in the first half and really put the clamps down in the second half. Getting 4 sacks in the second half was nice to see after several games of very few sacks. It’s been a tough season so far but it’s good for Auburn to be back in the win column. War Eagle!” - Will McLaughlin

“The offense looked much better and maybe something will click during the off week. That said, this Ole Miss defense was atrocious and I refuse to buy in that this was the massive victory that will fix everything going forward.” - Drew McCracken

“‘A man who, as a physical being, is always turned toward the outside thinking, that his happiness lies outside him, finally turns inward and discovers that the source is within him.’ - Soren Kierkegaard” - Son of Crow

“I had as much fun watching football today as I have all year. Don’t know what our good performance means, really, but at least I had fun.” - AU Chief

-James Jones

“We saw better things today. We’ve been really good on the first drive of the game over the past couple of weeks, and today it looked crisp and clean. Jarrett Stidham hit a couple passes, the run game worked, and we involved Boobee Whitlow to get him rolling. After today, he may very well continue the 1,000-yard streak that Auburn’s got. The defense was great, never broke in the red zone until absolute garbage time, and kept Ole Miss completely in check. There were still some Gus things — Malik Willis’ appearance, poor Wildcat decisions, etc. — but not overwhelming ones. Maybe it’s a function of playing Ole Miss’ defense, maybe it’s a function of the offense finding a little bit of rhythm, but either way, it was fun to watch. The freshmen got a lot of work and have solidified themselves as the best offensive threats that we have, and so I wish Ryan Davis and Darius Slayton could make more impactful plays more often. Slayton had another bad drop, but he made up for it with some good effort plays. The line blocked better, and the defensive line was hot hot hot. Sacks galore and tons of pressure. We didn’t turn the ball over either, and Stidham seemed to take better care of the ball.

As for Gus, we may still have a new coach in 2019, but this team could have absolutely listened to the chatter this past week and folded. They didn’t, and watching the guys on the field, they were fired up to play well. That’s a good job by Gus and the staff under immense scrutiny. Now, we get a week off, and if Auburn can find a way to beat Texas A&M, the feelings against him may start to shift. It’ll all come down to Georgia and Alabama, though. It always does. Good win today. War Eagle!” - Jack Condon

Enjoy your bye week everyone!