Ole Miss – Auburn OPEN thread

Maybe you are new to this rivalry if we want to call it that, and maybe rivalry is too strong of a word.

But if you haven’t been around as long as some of the staffers of this blog, the Auburn game has been a sore spot on the schedule in the past. At one point, it was the Tommy Tuberville game where a former coach came back to raucous boo’s but who also almost always went home with the win.

There has always been some friction with this program whether it be through some recruiting practices or the resurgence of their program via Cam Newton or the roller coaster nature of how high and low Auburn has been while Ole Miss experienced somewhat the same.

Then there was the Laquon Treadwell game that truly was one of the more heartbreaking endings of an Ole Miss game that I have personally attended. No notes just absolutely terrible.

Auburn has gotten the best of Ole Miss six of its last eight games in this series though the Rebels have won the last two. The last time the Rebels had a three game win streak against the Tigers dates way back to 1949-1952. YIKES.

This year seems different though with these two teams not facing each other the past couple seasons. Ole Miss is clearly fighting for a playoff spot while Auburn is fighting for bowl eligibility. The Tigers have one of the best wins in the country with its upset over Georgia, but are they done with their spoiler status?

You can reasonably look at the remainder of its schedule and see three wins (Arkansas, Miss. St. and Samford), which puts Auburn back in the bowl picture in the first year of the Alex Golesh era. An upset over Ole Miss or in the Iron Bowl would have the War Eagle faithful feeling very good about its future compared to the last few years.

The Rebels though are coming off a hard fought loss to No. 11 Texas with a massive game next week against No. 3 Georgia. This is a trap game pure and simple for Pete Golding and his squad, and any missed assignments this week are going to sting for this fanbase that is already strongly questioning if the Rebels are who we thought they were supposed to be.

Last week was also probably the worst game Trinidad Chambliss has had in a starting role under center. His Heisman hopes got a lot slimmer after facing one of the best defenses in the country, and now he needs to show out against Auburn.

The Rebels do technically get to bowl eligibility with a win, but those days of hoping for a trip to Birmingham and Shreveport are long past this fanbase. Right now, it is a “take care of business” game in the Vaught. HYDR, cheers!