Another Close One

The Ole Miss Rebels gave Auburn more than they expected on Saturday, but it was not enough to beat the Tigers. Auburn defeated Ole Miss 23-17 in a game that was close all the way till the very end. From the very beginning Ole Miss came out hot and drove straight down the field to score. Auburn followed that with their own touchdown and the game was tied 7-7 at half time.

The second half saw two interceptions by Brent Schaeffer that helped Auburn gain momentum and eventually take the lead for the rest of the game. The Rebels had the ball several times in around mid field or in Auburn territory, but could not get over the hump to find the endzone. This seems to be the story of the year for the 2006 football team.

Couple of random thoughts.

- This is the second home game in a row where an Ole Miss player was injured on the opening kickoff and out for the game. Defensive end starter Chris Bowers suffered a stinger that took him out of the game. This did not help an already thin defensive group

- I enjoyed seeing Robert Lane involved more in the offense. I hoped at the beginning of the season we would see more plays like Lane made in the Auburn game. He is clearly a step slower since the knee injury, but I hope we use him even more in the remaining games.

- We still have problems with our defensive back coverage. I am not a defensive expert, but it continues to amaze me just how open our opponent's receivers are each and every game. The best coverage plays we had were Auburn's dropped passes.

- Without Rory Johnson and Patrick Willis on our team, we would be really bad. The combo of Willis and Johnson is incredible. They make plays that are absolutely incredible. If there is a better duo out there that dominates a defense this year, I have not seen them.

- People will call it another "moral victory." I am glad to see our team play hard and fight to win. I just hate it for Orgeron. He works his tail off and has been trying to get his "monumental" win. For the third time this season, he has gotten close, but can not finish. It will come one day, just hopefully sooner rather than later.