The Auburn Tigers\nare no longer in contention to win the SEC West, but they are still\none of the best teams in the country. Auburn proved its mettle in its\nseason opening victory over Oregon, and the Tigers\u2019 two losses this\nseason have come against top ten teams. The Tigers lost to No. 1 LSU\nlast week, and they fell to No. 6 Florida earlier in the season, so\nthey are the top two-loss team in the nation. They can move back into\nthe AP Top Ten this week with a win over Ole Miss and a little bit of\nluck this weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oddsmakers opened\nAuburn as an 18.5-point favorite against Ole Miss per the NCAAF\nbetting odds,<\/a> and the line moved up to 20 points as\nthe weak progressed. We have seen the line shift back to where it\nopened over the last 24 hours though. The total has dropped slightly\nsince it opened, as the Rebels don\u2019t have the offense we have seen\nin Oxford in previous seasons. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ole Miss has only\ndefeated Auburn four times in the last two decades. Auburn has won by\nat least 11 points in each of the last three meetings, and each of\nthose games saw at least 57 points scored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bo Nix has had his\nshare of ups and downs as a freshman quarterback. Nix was excellent\nin Auburn\u2019s blowout win over Mississippi State, but he was not\nsharp in losses to LSU and Florida. He completed just 15 of 35 passes\nfor 157 yards with one touchdown and one interception against the\nBayou Bengals, and he was even worse against Florida. The Gators\nlimited Nix to 11-27 passing for 145 yards with one touchdown and\nthree interceptions. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nix wasn\u2019t great\nagainst Oregon or Tulane, but he doesn\u2019t need to be great to win\ngames with Auburn. He is only completing 53.9 percent of his passes\nthis year, and he has not completed a pass longer than 50 yards. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both he and Joey\nGatewood have ben competent runners, and that\u2019s what\u2019s important\nin Gus Malzahn\u2019s system. Malzahn calls for quarterbacks to run and\nthrow to keep defenses off balance and mobility is a little more\nimportant than accuracy. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Auburn has the 29th<\/sup>\nbest offense in the country per SP+, and this run game has been\noutstanding. The Tigers are averaging 5.1 YPC, and Malzahn and\ncompany rely on the run to move the chains. Ole Miss has been very\ngood against the run though, so Nix will need to move the ball\nthrough the air on a defense that is allowing 7.7 YPA. If he doesn\u2019t,\nthe Rebels stand a good chance of covering per the CFB\nbetting odds<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Rebels run the\nball almost as much as Auburn. Ole Miss has done a good job moving\nthe chains on the ground this season, but the passing game has been\nwoeful. This offense is rated 78th<\/sup> in the country per SP+\ndue in large part to the play of quarterbacks Matt Corral and John\nRhys Plumlee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Corral is the better\npassing option, but he is a much worse runner than Plumlee. Corral is\ncompleting 59.9 percent of his passes and is averaging 7.5 YPA, but\nhe is running for just 2.4 YPC. Meanwhile, Plumlee is averaging 5.9\nYPC and is Ole Miss\u2019 second-leading rusher. However, he has been\nwildly inaccurate, completing just 47.6 percent of his passes and is\naveraging 5.6 YPA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Auburn has one of\nthe best defensive lines in the nation, and the Tigers will stop the\nrun against Ole Miss. To beat Auburn, you have to beat the defense\nthrough the air, and Ole Miss hasn\u2019t shown it can do that\nthroughout the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t expect a lot of scoring or big plays. Neither Auburn nor Ole Miss has completed a pass of 50 yards or longer, and both teams want to take the air out of the ball. That should lead to a low-scoring game, and Auburn could underwhelm a bit after last week\u2019s loss to LSU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Get the latest college football odds and information–follow BetOnline.ag on Twitter<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\nRECENT HISTORY<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
WHEN AUBURN HAS THE BALL<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
WHEN OLE MISS HAS THE BALL<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
PREDICTION<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n