Auburn flying high while Rebels regroup
Published 12:04 pm Tuesday, November 2, 2010
OXFORD — Not even gray jerseys could save Ole Miss Saturday night against the top-ranked team in the Bowl Championship Series.
Unbeaten Auburn (9-0, 6-0 Southeastern Conference) piled up 572 yards in total offense and cruised to a 51-31 win over the Rebels.
But it wasn’t enough to keep the Tigers on top.
On Sunday night, Oregon got the better of the Tigers, moving to the No. 1 spot in the BCS after routing Southern Cal 53-32. Auburn was No. 2 after spending last week at No. 1, while TCU jumped Boise State into the No. 3 spot.
Auburn gained one spot in the USA Today’s coaches’ poll to No. 2 over Boise State while remaining at No. 3 in the Associated Press poll.
Ole Miss wore an all-gray uniform in honor of its 1960 national championship team. Auburn, in its home blue, was the only team on the field that looked like champs. The Tigers don’t want to get ahead of themselves. They still have a Nov. 13 game against an improved Georgia squad and the Iron Bowl against defending national champion Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Nov. 26.
Auburn running back Onterio McCalebb, who had a 68-yard touchdown run, said the Tigers are focused on the foe ahead of them, and that would be Tennessee-Chattanooga Saturday in Auburn.
“There may have been some messages sent about us, but we’re not looking ahead,” McCalebb said. “We’re getting better every week. And we’re going to keep working hard.”
Ole Miss, meanwhile, is working just to get out of the SEC West cellar.
The Rebels (3-5, 1-4) are the only SEC West team that is not ranked in this week’s Associated Press poll, and have lost three in a row. Ole Miss must win three of its next four games to become bowl eligible for the third straight season. The Rebels host Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday, then face Tennessee, LSU and Mississippi State.
It’s not a good feeling for a team that has finished in the top half of the division and won the Cotton Bowl each of the past two seasons.
“We never, never expected to be in this position in November,” Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt said with a grimace. “We had much different plans.”
Ole Miss has given up 275 points through eight games (34.4 per game), which is the most for the program since 1915. It’s also the worst in the SEC this season.
“It’s the little things, man,” defensive end LaMark Armour said. “We’re always shooting ourselves in the foot. Right now we’re just beating ourselves. That’s the only thing that hurts. If we can just move forward and quit beating ourselves we can get out of this situation.”
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Associated Press sports writer David Brandt contributed to this report.