Number Three: 2003 Auburn Victory

One of the greatest games in Ole Miss modern history finds its way to number three on the greatest sports memories/news of the past four years. The 2003 football game in which the Rebels defeated the Auburn Tigers on the road 24-20 was a heck of a game to attend. With a crowd of over 86,000 in Jordan Hare the night was perfect for college football. Many Rebel fans will remember this game for years due to the famous picture posted above.

The game was back and forth in the first half before the Rebels took a 14-10 lead going into halftime on a Manning connection to Mario Hill. In the second half the Tigers came out hot and were up on the Rebels. The Rebel offensive line was struggling as both starters Justin Sawyer and Tre Stallings were forced to leave the game due to leg injuries.

Down 20-17 late in the fourth quarter, the Rebels staged an 80-yard comeback drive that ended in a Brandon Jacobs touchdown before Auburn responded with their own 78-yard drive to the Ole Miss three-yard line with 45 seconds remaining. Facing third and goal, Auburn chose to pass to wide open receiver Ben Obomanu. Obomanu just flat out dropped it. Auburn was then forced to call a timeout. At the timeout the entire Rebel football team met on the sideline and everyone was determined to win the game. Auburn chose again to pass, and it was deflected by Eric Oliver and the Rebels won the game. The victory over Auburn moved Ole Miss to 6-0 in the SEC West, their best conference record since 1962, and left only the Rebels and LSU left in the Western Division race.

This was without a doubt one of the best trips I took in college. Jacob Whelan, Chris Sherman, Collin Tackett and I all piled up into the Volvo and headed to Auburn. Upon reaching our destination of the Knights Inn Opelika(a fine establishment I might add), we hit up the Sigma Nu house at Auburn. For those of you that were there you remember the scene. At the end of the knight it was all Ole Miss people and the Hotty Toddy's were more prevalent than War Eagles, it was awesome. The day of the game was even better, since their is no real tailgating, we ate our chicken in a church parking lot and headed to the game. The Ole Miss section was in the opposite endzone of the Obomanu drop. So when I saw Campbell's pass, I thought Obomanu caught it and our run was over. Well we all know the rest of the story from that point. This game was probably the best road game played in the past four years. I have been to Jordan Hare several times, and will go back many more. But no game in Jordan Hare will ever pass this one.