Pete Golding spent Monday explaining how Texas pulled away in the fourth quarter. On Tuesday, the defensive end who strip-sacked Arch Manning in that game put a number on it.
Blake Purchase said he went back and broke down the film of the 34-27 loss in Austin, and his read was that the fourth quarter was not a different game. It was two runs.
I wouldn’t say just like the crazy difference. I think going back and really breaking the film down, like they had like 100 or something plus yards on 2 rushes.
Blake Purchase
That lines up with what Golding said Monday, when he put 121 of Texas’s rushing yards in the fourth quarter from the 10:30 mark on and pointed to two plays with missed tackles in the hole. Purchase’s figure is his own, from his film study, and he hedged it himself.
“Getting the ball carrier down”
Purchase did not describe a defense that got pushed around. He described one that missed its angles.
It’s just leveraging the ball, taking good angles on tackles. So just, I think it’s really getting the ball carrier down is the biggest difference I saw in, like, the 4th quarter than the first 3.
Blake Purchase
It is the same diagnosis his head coach gave. Golding said Monday he was not mad that his players missed a tackle, only about how they missed it, to the wrong side.
Auburn’s quarterback is the problem this week
Auburn’s offense runs through quarterback Byrum Brown, who leads the Tigers with 480 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns, per Ole Miss Athletics. Purchase’s plan for him is numbers.
He a really dynamic runner. He can also throw the ball pretty well. So really just making sure we run to the ball, get multiple guys on him because he’s definitely a hard guy to get down.
Blake Purchase
He said Ole Miss has seen the type before, including in the opener against Louisville, and sees it every day in practice.
And also you see Trinidad every day. So just seeing a lot of mobile quarterbacks, definitely it helps us in preparation.
Blake Purchase
“We don’t got no margin for error”
Golding told his team after Texas there are no more days off. Purchase said the players heard what he meant.
Now we got to go 1-0 every day, like, because it’s no more— the margin for error has decreased significantly. So just every day being able to go out there, you got to win practice every day because we got to win on Saturday.
Blake Purchase
And on the road, his lesson from Austin was about the crowd.
The biggest thing on the road is being able to make some plays to get the crowd out the game. So if you let them stay in the game and keep the momentum hot, keep the crowd noise high, then it’s going to be there. It’s going to be a factor.
Blake Purchase
This week he does not have to worry about that. Auburn (4-3) visits No. 12 Ole Miss (5-2, 3-2 SEC) on Saturday at 11:45 a.m. CT on SEC Network, and the Rebels have won 15 straight at Vaught-Hemingway.
It’s a great home atmosphere. I love playing home games here. So we’ve got a great fan base.
Blake Purchase
Photo: Blake Purchase strip-sacks the Texas quarterback in the second half, October 24, 2026, at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images.
From Blake Purchase’s Auburn-week press availability, Tuesday, October 27, 2026.
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