We built Wednesday’s show straight off three Ole Miss press conferences, and they all told the same story: this team knows exactly what went wrong in Austin, and none of it is a talent problem. The defense knows it was two angles. The offense knows the first quarter has to be better. And the offensive line is not hiding behind Kewan Lacy being out. Ole Miss is 5-2 with everything still in front of it and Auburn coming to a building where the Rebels do not lose. Hotty Toddy.
The Texas loss came down to two angles
Blake Purchase went back and watched the Texas film and came out with a number, not a feeling. By his own count, Texas had 100-plus rushing yards on just two carries in the fourth quarter. Pete Golding said nearly the same thing a day earlier — 121 Texas rushing yards in the fourth, pointing at two plays with missed tackles in the hole. That is not a defense that got pushed around for sixty minutes. It is a defense that missed its angles on two snaps and lost a ballgame over it. “It’s just leveraging the ball, taking good angles on tackles,” Purchase said. “Getting the ball carrier down, that’s the biggest difference.” Remember who’s saying it: Purchase is the guy who strip-sacked Arch Manning on the first drive of the second half in Austin, with Kam Franklin falling on it in the end zone — his second strip-sack in three games, both turned into touchdowns.
Why it matters now: Auburn’s offense runs through quarterback Byrum Brown, who leads the Tigers with 480 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns per Ole Miss Athletics. That is exactly the kind of quarterback who turns one missed angle into a 60-yard play. Purchase knows it — the plan, in five words, is get multiple guys on him. Fix those two angles, get more than one hat to the football, and this is the same defense that held Missouri to 39 yards on the ground. And the stakes are real: win out — Auburn, Georgia, Oklahoma, Wofford, Mississippi State — and because of how tough the schedule has been, Ole Miss doesn’t just play its way into the playoff, it could end up with the tiebreaker to Atlanta.
The slow starts are on everybody, and the offense knows it
Ole Miss has scored on its opening drive just once all season, against Charlotte, and that is the conversation right now. Asked what the film shows, tight end Caleb Odom didn’t point at a position group — he pointed at all of them. “Honestly, we just have to be better. Like, just period,” he said, naming the line, the tight ends and the receivers, and adding that even Trinidad Chambliss has things he wants to clean up. Here’s the honest caveat: the offense itself has been fine — the fewest points Ole Miss has scored in any game this year is 27. The problem isn’t the whole game, it’s the first quarter. Texas built a 24-3 halftime lead while Chambliss went 6-of-18 with two interceptions in that first half, his first rough half as a Rebel. If Auburn tries the same script, the answer has to come early this time, not in the third quarter.
One more Wednesday nugget worth passing along: in-state defensive lineman Mitchell Turner shut down his recruitment and is headed to Ole Miss. Signing day can get weird, but a shutdown from the player himself is a good sign.
The offensive line isn’t using Kewan Lacy’s absence as an excuse
Kewan Lacy is out, and left guard Delano Townsend was asked how much that changes things up front. He didn’t hesitate: not a lot. Makhi Frazier steps into the role — he ran for 101 yards against Missouri and went for 47 on six carries after Lacy went down at Texas — with Shekai Mills-Knight in line for a real opportunity this week. “I don’t think it’s really a drop-off,” Townsend said. That is confidence, not denial, and the line has earned the benefit of the doubt. At Texas, without Terez Davis, Connor Howes slid over from the right side to the left, the interior of Patrick Kutas and company held it down, and Ole Miss did not give up a sack against one of the best fronts in the league.
Then there’s the building. Ole Miss has won 15 straight at Vaught-Hemingway and is 38-3 at home since 2021. Every player got the home question Wednesday, and they all said a version of the same thing — that record is a reflection of the fans. Three days out, the formula was simple: start fast, get multiple guys on Byrum Brown, and let that building do what it does.
Also on the show: Bill Flowers
Ole Miss legend Bill Flowers came into the house for an Auburn preview, and his football worry lined up with the flagship almost exactly: the defense. He’d like to see a bulkier, more old-school look to take the run away rather than staying so concerned about the pass, and his fear is that Byrum Brown finally “wakes up and runs all over us.” Even so, he left optimistic — his final score prediction was 36-21 Ole Miss.
So drop your Auburn final score in the comments — a score, not a spread — and we’ll check it Monday. Fifteen straight at home. Does it get to 16? Thanks for making us part of 10-million-view celebration week.
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