“The team is hot,” were the words used by Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin when discussion the Rebels at his Monday morning press conference.
For the Auburn defense it looks to be another week of bend but do not break, as the Ole Miss offense is highlighted by the trio of wideout Jonathon Mingo, running back Quinshon Judkins, and highly rated quarter back transfer Jaxson Dart.
Mingo leads all SEC receivers with 507 yards and 3 touchdowns, netting 23.05 yards per reception which is good for second in the country. The good news for Auburn is their pass defense has been improving over past weeks, holding LSU to only 75 yards in the first half and Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett to 25 yards last week. This has allowed Auburn to jump to 32nd in the nation for pass defense.
“Those guys are flying around. They are around in coverage, they are around the receivers. They’re not giving those guys many opportunities to be wide open. We’ve gotten better at that,” Harsin said.
After allowing 292 rush yards against Georgia last week. The Tigers run defense will face yet another tough task on the ground from Ole Miss running back Quinshon Judkins. The freshman leads the nation in touchdowns for first year players with eight to go along with 581 yards for an average of 6.1 yards per carry.
“This guy is the real deal,” Harsin said about Judkins.
Auburn will try and utilize their own run game against the Rebels after being held to 93 yards on the ground against Georgia, where 52 of those yards came from quarterback Robby Ashford. Harsin noted the struggling run game and how to help it:
“Penetration slows the backs down, right?... You don’t want to give up penetration. I think that’s what’s happened to us at times,” Harsin said. “It’s not because of talent.”
The offensive line, which has been highlighted by injuries at center with Auburn being at its third center of the year, will look to hold steady against an Ole Miss team that ranks 35th in the nation in run defense.
Auburn’s starting running back Tank Bigsby was held to only 19 yards rushing against Georgia, the back has been struggling to gain momentum after the opening game against Mercer. "We have to be better upfront...We have to give those backs a chance to get started,” Harsin said on how to get Bigsby and sophomore Jarquez Hunter to become a factor in the run game.
Ashford’s ball security will be a concern for Auburn, as he had his seventh fumble in only his third start over the weekend. Ashford made a run that would give Auburn a crucial first down on their best drive of the game at that point, but after getting past the marker he seemingly dropped the ball, ultimately setting Georgia up in prime field position around midfield.
“I don't think he's trying to be careless with it,” Harsin said. “I think he was in that transition, and the ball slipped out of his hands. And that's, you know, sometimes you see a quarterback go back and throw and the ball just slips out of his hands, right? It happens sometimes in practice. You wonder why it happens. I played the position. I've done the same thing. It just happens.”
The quarterback will need to fix his ball security woes heading into this weekend with Ole Miss as they have recovered six fumbles through six games this year.
Auburn and Ole Miss are set to face off this Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi. The game will be broadcasted by ESPN with a scheduled kickoff of 11 a.m. CT.
