What time is it? Game Time!

……And the white-clad players look a LOT more fired up than the Oxford crowd. Let’s hope the Reb players haven’t woken up yet, either!

……And Auburn will kickoff. Deferred…

…..Ole Miss won, and wants the ball! Byrum launches it to the six, Wallace bobbles it, gets it back, then snakes out to the 15.

…..In the I, play fake, and they try to hit Hodge on the go, incomplete, well covered.

…..from the 15. Snead in the shotgun. Quick out to Hodge, for 8 and out of bounds.

…..Whistle, and Ole Miss calls timeout. 14:29 left.

…..is that Jerraud Powers is out. D’Antoine Hood, the true freshman, is starting at corner. And Zach Etheridge is playing the nickel, with a sore shoulder. Thus far, Auburn hasn’t gotten any pressure on Snead. Both passes were off play action…

…..on 3rd and 2. They’ll go with the shotgun. Quick screen to Wallace, Auburn playing off, first down.

…..From the I, Eason takes the dive up the middle for 3, Bynes on the stop.

….Play action, thrown high out of bounds. Coleman in the backfield…

…..SHotgun. Snead with ALL day, misses everyone, but many flags.

……an illegal formation on the Rebs, pass interference on Auburn. Replay it…

……Pass tipped, Chris Evans! Incomplete!

…..by Park, goes to Chris Slaughter for a fair catch at the Auburn 30.

…..how TERRIBLE the camera work is on these JP/LF/Raycom telecasts is! I can’t even read the player numbers…

…..there is no slobberin’ Lou Holtz!

…..in the shotgun (?) Burns will zing it to Rod Smith on the hitch, knee down on the catch.

…..1 back, tripps right. Dive to Lester, swarmed for a yard loss. Too many to block…

…..possession play from the shotgun. The slant to Dunn, first down! Welcome back, Robert!

……43. Dive to Lester, 1 yard. 8 in the box…

…..Shotgun. Another slant, to Smith, got about 5, slow to get up.

…..Shotgun. Trott in motion. The out, wide open, and dropped by Dunn.

….Durst in… And we get a substitution infraction.

……Durst will drop it! and get it away to the 25. Only a 26 yard effort, but at least it wasn’t blocked!

…..for 5, then is ROCKED down by Marks, for no gain on 2nd down!

…..I set, tailback out. Deep corner, WAY overthrown. Hodge was open…

……And it’s to Slaughter at the 30, fair catch.

…..On 1st down, Ole Miss will pack the box. 8:58 left in the first. Auburn will go with the shotgun. Option to the short side, Lester bobbles the pitch, but picks up six anyway!

…..Burns will set the play, deals it off to Lester short side again, Lester picks up the first!

…..Screen to Tate, buried for a loss.

……SHotgun, handoff Tate into the short side, got 3.

…..Long yardage, shotgun. Ole Miss shows blitz, Burns lofts it up WAY past Slaughter, nearly picked off. Incomplete. Good blitz pickup, but no dice.

…..nearly blocked, loose football! Ole Miss recovers, but there’s a flag.

…..face mask on Auburn. Etheridge. Tacked on the end, too.

…..good field position. From the 42, the I. Off tackle left, nothing, but a flag in. HOLDING!

…..1st and 20

……Snead will go under center. The drop, no one open, sacked by Antoine Carter! Coverage sack….

……Ole Miss goes shotgun. Draw to Eason, got about 5. Uh oh. Coleman is face down on the field.

…..a head to head shot from Goggins.

…..the way they handle concussions these days.

……Coleman will get up by himself and walk off under his own power! War Eagle!

……Snead will operate from the shotgun. Dump off, and he missed the wide open back. Snead is not on, and did we hear a few boo birds?

…..fair-caught by Slaughter at the 35.

…..so far for Auburn. Burns in the shotgun, Keeper for about 2.

……Burns fires on the hitch, to Slaughter for about 6, downed immediately.

…..Burns will take it, hit immediately, ball pops up, and SOMEHOW, Bosley gets it away from 2 Ole Miss defenders!

…..nail this one, out of bounds about the 30. Only 28 yards. Durst has had pressure up the middle, and is kicking horribly.

…..Up the middle, and Eason is running all over tiger linebackers, we suddenly can’t tackle. Huge run for about 25.

40, End around to Wallace, McFadden WHIFFS on him, losing contain, and Wallace gets about 3. McFadden is hurt, on a clip.

……Harry Adams?

player we could least afford to lose. McFadden limps off. Wow.

…..Ole Miss will go 1st and 25 after the flag. Eason goes nowhere, Craig Stevens finishes him.

……Ole Miss will stay under center. Ace again. Play action, no pressure, Snead takes off, a 17 yard pickup. Linebackers? Where, taking a water break?

……Shotgun. 3 man rush, a swing pass to the short side, and Eason falls down, no gain!

Kent Austin is calling a pretty horrible game, so far. Snead is OFF. The first quarter ends, in a scoreless 0-0 deadlock. War Eagle, and we’ll get the ball on the punt, to start the second quarter.

…..only one snap, and did pretty well, as Snead had to run. And McFadden was back on the 3rd down. Ole Miss is NOT testing our secondary, yet. Strange.

……Slaughter will get away, and Ole Miss pins it at the 6 yard line. Wow, good punt.

…..And STILL, we’re in the shotgun? Handoff short side to Tate, got to the 9.

…..Shotgun, Burns will quarterback draw, and he shifts out to the 15! Good eyes!

…..Shotgun. Nothing up the middle. The corners are leaving the wide receivers. No coverage at all. Watch.

……A missed pass to Billings, not even close.

…..Shotgun. Shovel pass to Tate, staggers forward for only a couple of yards. Awkward.

……and actually needs to kick this one! Towering shot, back to the 32 and a fair catch by Green. That’s around 48 yards net.

…..Finally, a good punt. I think they really screwed Durst up, having him place-kick, this week. Took him a quarter to get settled…

……and is back about where they started. From the 32, Shotgun, zone read to McCluster up the middle, and gets very little. Blanc and Marks filled well.

…..Shotgun. Snead will launch one over double coverage, at McNeil and McFadden. As all day, Snead is off. Incomplete into the bench.

…..Shotgun. Delayed blitz, off the hands of the receiver, McFadden drops a sure int!

Punt, Slaughter let it roll. Down to the 10. A mistake there.

…..Chris Slaughter could have fielded that thing out around the 35.

…..evidently Jevan Snead has infected him. Neither quarterback on target, since the first series.

…..We’re STILL in the shotgun. Handoff lester, loses about 4.

…..Pitch to Lester, short side, dancing, got nothing.

…..BUrns will thow to Trott in double coverage, WAY short of the first.

…..for his 5th punt. A HOWITZER, the 31. First tackle was missed, but we get him down around the 40. Green survived a horsecollar attempt that wasn’t called.

…..to Wallace, gets 10. McFadden playing WAY off.

at their 48. Draw to Bolden, gets two to midfield.

7:54 left, play blown dead. It’s a motion call.

…..Snead under center. He’ll deal it to Bolden outside. We lose contain, miss tackles, and genenerally fail. It was Etheridge, again.

….McCluster breaks tackles up the middle and dives for 9.

…..From the AU 25. Ace, Bolden up the middle for only a yard. Evans held on.

…..I formation. QUick out to Wallace, and Snead misses again.

…..Snead reminds me of Bernie Kozar, the old Miami QB of the early 80s. Throws it almost sidearm.

Ole Miss.

…..Snead will fire to McCluster on the out, we play way off again, but hold ’em short of the first.

of McCluster. Lost track of downs, there…

…..tap in the short field goal, and take a 3-0 lead.

…..some poor tackling.

…..can’t understand why we’re trying to run the ball out of the shotgun, again. Why? It hasn’t worked all year!

bring the kickoff up the middle, out to the 25.

….We’re still in the shotgun. A quick curl, too low to Billings. Incomplete.

…..Under center, Play fake, pressure, Burns escapes, fires upfield to Fannin, who fumbles, and Ole Miss has the ball at the AU 22. Wow.

…..Did Fannin have possession?

…in the replay department. From that angle, I don’t think Fannin had control of the ball.

…..that call should be “incomplete pass.”

……Incomplete!

……From the shotgun, Burns will face pressure. Good protection, and Burns fires to Trott over the middle for a first down! Great blocking by the line!

…..Clock winding down to 4 minutes. Handoff out of the shotgun to Fannin, short side, again, Fannin breaking tackles, picks up 5!

7 yard gain earlier, but this time, we get a motion penalty on Mike Berry.

…..Shotgun. QB draw, run out of bounds after a 5 yard gain.

…..We’ll go under center, 1 back. 3 wide. Handoff Fannin, no lead blockers, predictable result. Loss of 1. Stupid call against an 8 man front.

…..Will DRILL this one, fair caught at the 14! About 2 minutes left, Ole Miss backed up.

….Gets two. We had a hard time getting him on the ground.

…..Snead in the shotgun. Out to Hodge, easy 10. HUGE cushion by McFadden.

…..Play action, fires outside to Hodge, caught at midfield. Etheridge with the hit.

…..High throw on the out to McCluster, off the hands. McFadden playing off again.

…..Snead fires outside again, low, in front of Lowe. Incomplete.

…..Shotgun, 3 man Auburn front. Read option to McCluster, and he bolts through to the Auburn 23. A 28-yard pickup, no linebackers home.

……from the Auburn 23 with 52 seconds left in the half. Hold ’em, Tigers!

….Will go from the shotgun. Snead fires over the middle to McCluster, complete down inside the 5.

absent over the middle. Snead will spike the ball, with 41 seconds left.

…..Shotgun, a hitch for the touchdown to Hodge, but he pushed off!

Pass interference.

….the kick is good, with a 10-0 lead. Our defense is turning over a new leaf. This week, we’ve decided not to wait till the second half to collapse. That was about as bad as it’s been, all year.

…..we have a grand total of 24 yards, having totally abandoned the I and Ace formations. With all of these slow developing shotgun handoffs, I’m wondering, did we secretly give Tony Franklin his job back? Who thought up this game plan?

squibbs the kickoff to McKenzie at the 38.

read-option to Fannin, for 7, clock runs. What? 3 timeouts, and you’re running the clock out?

……and we couldn’t even block 3.

……and Auburn appears to be in total disarray. Ole Miss leads, 10-0. Auburn ran the clock out, down 10 points, with 3 timeouts left. If Jevan Snead could throw better, we’d have been down by about 30.

…..game plan, on offense. On defense, we’re giving the Ole Miss Rebel receivers tons of room. They can get 8 yards by just zinging it out there. Our linebackers can’t tackle, don’t know where to be. We lose contain outside, can’t tackle up the middle. Durst didn’t help us in the first quarter, with short punts. Why, why, why, did we mess with him as a place-kicker?

……War Eagle, but we don’t look like we care about going to a bowl, this year.

great motivational speakers couldn’t help this spiral

…..but we really look soft, on both sides of the ball.

totally agree no fire, slow as well

…..I didn’t really expect to win today, but I hoped we’d come out and play hard. It looks like a Friday spring scrimmage, for our players. HOW do you leave 3 timeouts on the table, with 30 seconds left, down 10, at midfield?

……3 wide receivers, two extra blockers, throw it up. At least try!

and even the second half that way tubs can keep his .500 records in tack, we look like 8 man highschool team playing against the Titans out here, this is demoralizing

…..is why Tubs won’t even fight for his players? No challenge flag on the push-off TD? Run the clock out when you’re down double digits? Why?

…..What are you doing at the coffee shop with the laptop? “A little shopping.” No, no, NO! That guy sitting across the coffee shop is probably sitting there with his Linux packet sniffer running, and will snarf up those logins and credit card numbers! Irresponsible of Geico…

…..Didn’t impress me on the interview.

…..Kick coming. We don’t have enough men up front! They kick it deep, though, and Davis cuts it out to the 24. Good coverage by Ole Miss.

…..Shotgun. Wow. Deep go, and Chris Slaughter stretches out, and HAS IT!

, we don’t get the snap off. Review. And they’re going to see that Slaughter stepped out before the catch.

……Boy, we should have snapped that thing.

…..Wipe out the big throw and catch, and will Auburn go 2nd and 10 from the 24? Wow. Those buffoons took FOREVER to make the wrong call! Missed the push earlier, missed that one.

…..1 back, bootleg pass to Trott, buried for a loss.

….Shotgun. The out, low, looking for Billings. Incomplete.

…..The boos continue to rain down. SHotgun. Burns will run, a defender falls down, and Burns will power forward to the 27! First down!

Offset I! UP THE GUT, Ben Tate! Blows up the D, Ziemba and Green, earthmovers! Tate will roar in for the TD!

is GOOOD! Auburn cuts the Ole Miss lead to 10-7! I formation, for the first time all day!

to get a stop. Play with some fire, guys!

…..flies down to the goal line, Wallace, dancing around, made a bad cut, and finally gets dumped at the 22.

after the play, offsetting flags.

for Ole Miss. Handoff on the counter, picks up seven.

Good blocking.

a deep fade, WAY out of bounds.

Shotgun handoff to McCluster, stopped short!

to Dunn! Back in the saddle, Dunn will fair catch it in tight coverage, at the Auburn 30.

…..Burns will go in the I. Play fake, fires on the out to BIllings.

…..I, stacked receivers, handoff Tate, a repeat of the play that scored earlier, this time loses a yard.

……Shotgun, 4 wide. Blitz, picked up, and Burns will find Tim Hawthorne over the middle, Hawthorne hangs on, and runs, and picks up 24!

Play action, wheel, but it’s well covered, and Burns thows it away.

shotgun. FIres on the slant to Slaughter, to the 40. Third and 3.

SHotgun. Ole Miss jumping. A twist, and Burns tries to force it into double covered Trott, ball out of bounds.

…..The kick will hit a yard into the endzone, touchback.

….picking up blitzes and stunts. They ran a tackle-end twist on Pugh and Berry, and the two linemen switched off seamlessly.

…..1st and 10. 3rd quarter clock is reading 9:10. Ole Miss will line up in the I. Off-tackle hand off for 3, McCluster.

2nd and 6. Wild Rebel, fake, McCluster up the gut near a first down.

at the 30. I set, Eason up the gut, ran right into Zach Clayton.

…..Shotgun. Snead with all day, dumps to Eason over the middle for 7.

…..Shotgun. Snead with time, holds it, and is SACKED, by Clayton!

…..and it’s to Dunn, with a fair catch at the Auburn 21. 6:20 left in the 3rd quarter.

……Burns will line ’em up in the shotgun. Draw, Burns slithers up to the 27.

…..Shotgun. Fannin, short side, buried. Safety and corner on that side were crashing before the ball was even snapped.

…..Shotgun. Deep go, CAUGHT by Billings, at the 48!

at the Ole Miss 48. I set! Fanning to the short side, no gain.

Happy game day

…..Shotgun, Burns with time, dumps it into a sea of blue shirts, tipped around, and picked off.

….to McCluster, for 11. Soft coverage, good blocking.

I set. Eason up the gut, no one in the A-gap. Etheridge hangs on and holds it to 9.

…..I set. Play action, boot, pass to Harris for about 10 more. Goggins looks hurt.

…..at the Auburn 33. 1 back, Ace. Short drop, Bynes on the blitz, knocked the pass down.

……Snead fires to Hodge, for 8.

…..Auburn needs a stop. Under center, I, the pitch to McCluster, we lose contain badly, McNeil finally tracks him down inside the 10.

…..from the 6, Wild Rebel with Bolden taking the snap, and surging forward for 3. Flag, though.

holding!

…..First and goal. I set. 1 wide, play fake, out route, Hood tips the pass, nearly intercepted!

…..I set, slot left. Draw to Eason, down to the 10.

from the 10. Empty backfield, zone. Snead trying to scramble, and is pulled down by Blanc, and we get late flags.

scrapping. What’s the call? Personal Foul, on Ole MIss!

…the 28, 4th and goal!

for the attempt. It’s 45 yards, and it’s sliced just right! No good!

…..at the 28. No points given up, despite Ole Miss at the 6! Burns sandlots it to Trott, out to the 35. That will be the last play of the 3rd quarter, and Ole Miss leads 10-7.

….SHotgun. Tate runs to the wide side, but we hold.

Trott.

…..We’ll have to throw. SHotgun. Burns on th out, hits Slaughter, for 6.

……Shotgun. Burns hit, spins, slings it out to Slaughter, who twists for the first down!

From the 41. Shotgun. Hitch and go, Slaughter HAS it, deep in Rebel land!

from the 17. Shotgun. Smash route, too high, too hard to Slaughter.

…..Shotgun. QB draw into a blitz, Burns jukes for a loss of 2.

…..We DO NOT need to give up a sack!

whistle. Blown dead. It’s an AU timeout.

is going to LOAD it up. I say fade, to Billings or Slaughter. Try to get points, and if we don’t score, Byrum HAS to make it from 36 yards, right?

….a shot, here. He’s BEEN our offense, today. He’s tall. Load it up to him. Maybe even on a post.

……Shotgun. 3 man front, has time, terrible throw, no white shirt anywhere, picked off.

……late. The turnover will likely stand.

 facemask on Auburn, personal foul on Ole Miss. Offsetting.

…..from the 34. I set, McCluster slashes off the left side, for 3.

…..Shotgun, Snead will roll out of bounds at the 41.

…..Shotgun, Soft zone, easy throw to Hodge for the 1st down.

at the Auburn 49. Handoff Bolden, breaks tackles, down close to the first down at the Auburn 39.

…..I set. Bolden stutters, and is buried for a half-yard loss.

…..Oh, a horrible spot!

…..Got at least an extra yard, on the spot.

sneak. 2 yards. Big push, but there’s a flag. Facemask on Auburn.

Rebs at the 21, threatening to put this one away. Stretch handoff, McCluster is BURIED by Ricks!

from the 25. 1 back. play action, Hood got flagged on the incomplete pass. Hood hanging on, should be another first down.

……1st down at the 21. I set. Up the gut McCluster, we miss, Bynes gets him at the 17.

…..I. Play fake, runs out of bounds at the 15. Close to a late hit…

…..Possession play. MCluster on the pitch, Stevens lost contain. Poor play by the linebacker.

….Bolden on the Wild Rebel, keeps, and is grabbed by the facemask by Evans.

not Evans.

from just inside the 4. Jumbo set. Play action, dumps to Derrick Davis, the fullback, easy touchdown, game over.

….is good, Ole Miss leads 17-7.

down 10, it would take an Auburn miracle. We need to keep taking shots downfield, though.

for Tristan Davis to take a kickoff to the house. Nutt teams are too disciplined on coverage lanes, though, for that to happen. Davis would have to break tackles up the middle, for it to happen.

……they boot it to Davis, he loses it in the sun, and it goes out the side of the end zone.

at the 20. SHotgun. Blown dead. Ziemba gets his usual false start for the game.

…..Burns runs, hit, got to the 14. Useless play.

…..Out route to Billings, to the 21 and out of bounds.

…..Shotgun. Burns misses an open receiver, and we’ll have to punt. Billings was WIDE open.

…..is going to boom it, to the 35. Luckily, Marshay Green falls down at the 40, because we sure couldn’t get a handle on him. Flag.

hands to the face on Ole Miss, and that will give Auburn a first down? Nutt doesn’t understand, and I don’t either.

Burns will flip it short to Slaughter, near a first. Clock runs, down around 5 minutes in the game.

……Burns will run, pick up two, clock stops to set the chains.

…..Auburn 46. Pump, up top, Billings is hit before the ball got there, no call, incomplete.

…..Shotgun. Deep out, to Swinton, near another first.

Burns will throw near side to Carr, at the Ole Miss 35.

Burns lofts it up for Slaughter into double coverage, picked off.

and Ole Miss has it.

Handoff up the middle for a bunch, a fumble, and Hood recovers for Auburn! It looked down, to me, before the hit.

How long will they take? It’s CLEARLY knee down before the ball came out.

it’s close. Really close. Could go either way.

by Raycom.

as they probably should.

1st and 10 at the 22.

I set, give to Eason for 5.

We wind it under 3 minutes.

Eason, bulls for a lot more, out over the 40. three missed tackles.

……1 back, Eason bulls forward to the 45, clock continues to run.

…..1 back. Eason, surges up near midfield.

clock under a minute.

a stoppage. Probably for the commercials.

I have no words…

Eason is stopped short, and the clock stops again, Auburn’s last timeout.

this game has been. At least they are going to give Burns some more practice, here under a minute.

…..it’s a short one that rolls out of bounds inside the Auburn 20.

from the 17, Burns in the shotgun. Dump to Fannin, he’ll get out over the 25. Ole Miss rushing only 3.

Burns shakes off a sure sack, and finds Slaughter upfield on the sideline for the first.

Burns hit, Fires to Hawthorne at the Ole Miss 43.

…..Burns spikes it.

…..Time for one, maybe two throws in the end zone. The first, over the middle to Hawthorne.

Auburn at the 20. Booing. Burns will take it, whistle.

the yellow flag. Slaughter lined up offsides.

from the 25 . dump to Fannin, down to the 10, it’s over. Ole Miss topples Auburn, 17-7. Auburn falls to a losing 4-5 record.

homecoming next week, we host Georgia after that. A week off, then a trip to T-Town. If we can let Burns throw like he did today, we beat UT Martin. Can we get an upset on one of the last two, to get bowl-eligible? Only if we get some defensive backs healthy. We were having to give up WAY too much cushion. Stafford and J. P. Wilson will gobble that stuff up…

for this game, in about an hour. War Eagle, everyone, and good afternoon.