Antonio Coleman (52) was a real pain for QB Jevan Snead/Todd Van Emst
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AUBURN – As Auburn safety Zac Etheridge was being strapped to a stretcher late in the first quarter, he looked into the eyes of the concerned teammates surrounding him.
“Finish it,” he told them before he was taken to the hospital for a precautionary evaluation. And they did.
On a damp Saturday, the Tigers recaptured the magic that made them 5-0 and exorcised the demons of three consecutive losses. Perfection didn’t come to the party, but it didn’t have to.
The Tigers took control in a wild and crazy third quarter, fell back a bit, then did what they had to in the fourth quarter to beat No. 22 Ole Miss 33-20 before a howling Jordan-Hare Stadium crowd estimated at 84,758.
Auburn moved to 6-3 overall and 3-3 in the Southeastern Conference going into next Saturday’s homecoming game against Furman. Ole Miss fell to 5-3 and 2-3.
The offense, missing in action for three weeks, found itself again against one of the SEC’s top defenses. The defense gave up a 94-yard drive to start the game and a79-yard run to electrifying Dexter McCluster. But other than that, it was at its best. The kickoff coverage team gave up an 88-yard touchdown return that gave Ole Miss new life after Auburn had taken a 31-7 lead.
But led by defensive end Antonio Coleman, who Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt said played “at another level,” the Tigers harassed quarterback Jevan Snead from start to finish. They sacked him three times and hit him numerous others.
Cornerback Walt McFadden made a spectacular interception and turned it into a 29-yard touchdown that gave Auburn a 17-7 lead in the third quarter. And he intercepted another one that clinched in the fourth quarter.
Coleman had two sacks, four tackles for loss and four quarterback hurries. Linebacker Eltoro Freeman came to play again, making nine tackles. Bates made nine tackles and recovdered a fumble.
Ben Tate ran relentlessly at the Ole Miss defense, gaining 144 yards on 25 carries and became the 18th Auburn player to go over 1,000 yards rushing.
And then there was quarterback Chris Todd. Calls went out for a change after he had his third consecutive subpar game in last Saturday’s 31-10 loss to LSU. There was nothing subpar about his game Saturday. He completed 12-of-22 passes for 212 yards and a touchdown and did not throw an interception.
Wide receiver Terrell Zachery made two spectacular catches, one for a 42-yard gain and one for 41.
There was vindication for offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, who spent an unhappy working with Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt at Arkansas. And there was vindication for first-year head coach Gene Chizik, who now has the Tiger bowl eligible.
“Obviously, we feel vedry blessed to beat a very good football team today,” Chizik said. “I can’t give our football team enough credit, starting with our seniors and the way they responded in a tough stretch.
“That was the question everybody wanted to know: ‘How is your football team going to respond in a tough time?’ I think today was a great example of how they respond.”
It took a while for Auburn to take control. After Chris Humphries caused a fumble on the opening kickoff with a withering hit, Ole Miss started from its own 6. It took 10 plays for the Rebels to go 94 yards. Snead hit Andy Hartmann with a 7-yard touchdown pass and it was 7-0.
Little could anyone have known what was to come.
Wes Byrum kicked a 36-yard field goal to make it 7-3. Then Darvin Adams broke wide open and caught a 28-yard touchdown pass from Todd, finishing off a 90-yard, six-play drive that was sparked by the first long completion to Zachery. It was 10-7 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Tommy Trott caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Wildcat quarterback Kodi Burns. McFadden snatched a pass off the hands of wide receiver Markeith McFadden and took it home to make it 24-7. And then Tate sprinted 53 yards for a touchdown. It was 31-7 with 7:42 left in the third quarter.
But Jesse Gandy promptly returned the kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown. Then McCluster outran everybody for a touchdown.
And then came the next bizarre development.
Ole Miss botched the extra point and Demond Washington scooped it up and went the distance for two points.
And that was all the scoring.
“That was the difference between a 7-0 swing and a 6-2 swing,” Chizik said. “It was huge.”
A Daren Bates fumble recovery squelched one Ole Miss drive. The defense knocked the Rebels backward after they recovered a Todd fumble. And finally McFadden closed it out with his second interception.
“I think this game was big,” Todd said. “It was really important for use. Everybody stayed confident in what we were doing, but I think it was big for us to come out and perform the way we did.”
Auburn scored more points in the third quarter than any team had scored on Ole Miss in any game all season.
Auburn finished with 401 yards offense on 226 passing and 175 on the ground. Ole Miss had 394 yards, 94 coming on the first drive of the game.
It was a bitter pill for Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt.
“This is disappointing,” Nutt said. “It is not how we planned it.”