Good morning, Everydayers, and happy Friday of our 10 Million View Celebration week. Today’s LOOM Flagship makes the case for why Ole Miss beats Auburn tomorrow, and Ole Miss basketball has one more tune-up behind it before Monday’s opener.
☕ Morning Coffee
“Hit one early, the game kind of changes.”
That’s Steven on today’s LOOM Flagship, on what one deep ball could do to Saturday. Three reasons Ole Miss beats Auburn:
- Trinidad Chambliss is due. He was 25 of 52 for 250 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions at Texas, and he still threw a touchdown pass, his 20th straight game with one. Only Chad Kelly, at 22, has a longer streak at Ole Miss. Now he gets an Auburn secondary that just gave up 387 passing yards to LSU, with one corner allowing 10 catches on 10 targets. “Saturday is the chance to make those throws against the secondary that has been giving those throws up.”
- Small gains, not zero. Byrum Brown has 480 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns, per Ole Miss Athletics. Pete Golding’s word for the quarterback run was “eliminate.” Steven isn’t worried about one or two big runs. He’s worried about 8-yard runs on 2nd and 7 that keep the chains moving: “The quarterback that hurts you is the one who escapes the pocket and finds nothing but grass.”
- Don’t help. Zac Blackerby of Locked On Auburn said it on this week’s crossover: “Auburn needs help to win this game.” Ole Miss has won 15 straight at home. Take care of the ball, no stupid penalties, tackle well, and hit one deep crosser early: “Hit one early, the game kind of changes. Everybody gets to exhale.”
🔑 Keys to Victory
- Key 1: Keep Auburn’s quarterback run game to small gains. Make Brown a thrower on third down.
- Key 2: Fix the timing on the deep crossing routes. It has been off for two games.
- Key 3: Play a clean football game. Take care of the ball, no stupid penalties, tackle well.
👀 Players to Watch
- Trinidad Chambliss: Under 10 rushing yards in three straight games. Steven wants him using his legs again: “Whenever he’s a threat to run, everything else kind of opens up.”
- Makhi Frazier: The lead back with Kewan Lacy out. He ran for 101 against Missouri and had 47 yards on six carries at Texas.
- Keaton Thomas: The Baylor transfer had 37 tackles through six games, second on the team, per the Ole Miss game notes. He’s the linebacker who has to be in Brown’s face on the scrambles.
🏥 Availability Report
| Player | Status |
|---|---|
| Kewan Lacy, RB | Out |
| Edwin Joseph, S / MJ Preston, S | Out |
| Cedrick Beavers, CB / Iverson McCoy, CB | Out |
| Izaiah Hartrup, WR / Kervin Johnson Jr., WR | Out |
| Ant Davis Jr., LB / Nascar McCoy, S / Emanuel Faulkner, OL | Out |
| Terez Davis, OL | Questionable |
| Jalyn Crawford, CB | Questionable |
| Brycen Sanders, OL / Connor Howes, OL / Michai Boireau, DT | Probable |
🏈 The Numbers
- 20: straight games with a touchdown pass for Trinidad Chambliss, two behind Chad Kelly
- 387: passing yards Auburn allowed to LSU last Saturday
- 10 for 10: catches allowed on targets by one Auburn corner at LSU
- 121: Texas rushing yards from the 10:30 mark of the fourth quarter on
- 15: straight home wins for Ole Miss heading into Saturday
- 92-78: Ole Miss basketball over UAB in its final exhibition
🏀 Rebels 92, UAB 78: Six In Double Figures
Ole Miss closed its exhibition schedule Tuesday night at the SJB Pavilion by beating Andy Kennedy’s UAB team 92-78. The Blazers led 45-44 at halftime and made 13 threes, but Ole Miss won the second half 48-33 and owned the paint, 38-14. Budd Clark ran the show with 18 points and 7 assists on 7-of-10 shooting, and six Rebels finished in double figures. Ole Miss shot 55% from the field and 43% from three, with 22 assists on 32 made baskets.
| Ole Miss | PTS | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Budd Clark | 18 | 7 AST, 7-10 FG |
| Patton Pinkins | 15 | 4 AST, 5-5 FT |
| Ben Henshall | 14 | 3 AST, 5-6 FT |
| Santiago Trouet | 12 | 9 REB |
| Corey Stephenson | 12 | 4 REB |
| Roman Siulepa | 11 | 4 REB |
Next: The regular season opens Monday, Nov. 2, against Alcorn State at the SJB Pavilion, 7:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.
🏀 Chris Beard: “A Banner Should Be Hung”
Chris Beard said the night mattered more for who was on the other bench. Kennedy is the winningest coach in Ole Miss history, and Beard wants that on the wall: “I think a banner should be hung in the Pavilion for the all-time winningest coach.” He said Kennedy was “literally the first person that I talked to after accepting this job.” On the game, Beard liked the ball security and the second-half defense, but not the rebounding: “We still have a long ways to go, you know, to be competitive in the league we’re in.”
🏀 Andy Kennedy: “Leave It Better Than You Found It”
Kennedy coached Ole Miss from 2006 to 2018 and came back pulling for the Rebels. “When I got this job in 2006, when I left in ’18, as my mom said, you know, leave it better than you found it. And I felt like we did that.” What he sees now: “It’s all grown up. This is big boy.” His read on the roster: Roman Siulepa is “a matchup problem,” and Budd Clark “really facilitated the whole game.” His verdict: “I really feel Coach Beard’s the right guy.”
🎤 What They Said
The quarterback that hurts you is the one who escapes the pocket and finds nothing but grass.
Steven Willis, on Byrum Brown
I think a banner should be hung in the Pavilion for the all-time winningest coach.
Chris Beard, on Andy Kennedy
It’s all grown up. This is big boy.
Andy Kennedy, on Ole Miss basketball today
📈 The Line
Per FanDuel, as listed in VegasInsider’s odds table updated Wednesday, Oct. 28: Ole Miss -13.5, total 56.5. Moneyline: Ole Miss -490, Auburn +375. On Monday at 9:13 a.m. ET, FanDuel had Ole Miss -12.5 and 57.5. Lines move, so check FanDuel for the current number.
The show reads the market. It does not make picks.
🔮 Tomorrow: Auburn
| Matchup | Auburn (4-3) at No. 12 Ole Miss (5-2, 3-2 SEC) |
| Kickoff | Saturday, Oct. 31 · 11:45 a.m. CT / 12:45 p.m. ET |
| Where | Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford |
| TV | SEC Network |
| Series | 49th meeting. Auburn leads 35-13 on the field (35-12 after vacated games). Ole Miss won the last one, 28-21 at Auburn in 2023 |
Auburn tomorrow. Eight days to Georgia.
📻 This Week on Locked On Ole Miss
| Monday | LOOM Flagship on the Texas loss and the SEC lines, plus Ole Miss legend John Fourcade |
| Tuesday | LOOM Flagship on Kewan Lacy and Golding’s defense, then a live Auburn show with Zac Blackerby |
| Wednesday | LOOM Flagship on the Purchase, Odom and Townsend pressers, plus Ole Miss legend Bill Flowers |
| Thursday | LOOM Flagship: the Locked On Auburn crossover with Zac Blackerby |
| Today | LOOM Flagship: Why Ole Miss Wins vs. Auburn |
| Saturday | Auburn at Ole Miss, 11:45 a.m. CT, SEC Network. The overreaction follows the final |
| On the Hub | Auburn has not started fast all season · Bill Flowers fears the Auburn quarterback starts running |
🔗 Five Clicks
1. SEC Week 9: Florida-Georgia headlines a slate with playoff stakes (AP via WRAL)
The Associated Press preview of the whole league’s Saturday, including Auburn at Ole Miss.
2. Ole Miss has a glaring weakness on defense that Auburn is positioned to exploit (AL.com via Yahoo Sports)
Golding on Byrum Brown and the Auburn run game, and how Auburn wants to get its ground game back after LSU.
3. 3 things to know about Ole Miss, Auburn’s next opponent (AL.com via Yahoo Sports)
How the other side sees the Rebels, including the four former Auburn players on the Ole Miss roster.
4. Ole Miss football returns home for Halloween showdown against Auburn (The Daily Mississippian)
The student paper on what the Rebels have to clean up after Austin.
5. Auburn has not started fast all season, and it needs Ole Miss mistakes to win in Oxford (OleMissHub)
The crossover with Locked On Auburn, written up.
💬 Join the Everydayers
Last call: drop your Auburn final score. A score, not a spread. The Auburn game thread is open in #game-day in the LOOM Private Discord, free to join.
Everything else lives at olemisshub.com, and if you want the show ad-free plus the members-only room, take your fandom to the next level with the Everydayer Club.
Ten million views since 2022, and we’re about to cross the line. None of it happens without you. Auburn tomorrow. Hotty Toddy. 🦈
