Auburn Just Exposed a Big Issue For Ole Miss

Despite the blowout victory, Ole Miss still has a lot to improve.

Oct 31, 2026; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Auburn Tigers running back Omar Mabson II (29) runs the ball as Mississippi Rebels defensive end Jonathan Maldonado (17) makes the tackle during the second quarter at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Ole Miss beat Auburn 45-15 on Saturday, but it was far from perfect.

The game was within one score until under four minutes left in the third quarter and the Rebels had serious trouble getting the Tiger offense off the field on third down.

Especially in the first half, Auburn had their way on many third downs. They overcame this issue against a mediocre Tiger football team, but it will not be as easy to address this week.

Ole Miss Third Down Defense This Year

Ole Miss Rebels Head Coach Pete Golding looks on during warm ups prior to the game against the Auburn Tigers at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Ole Miss ranks 12th in the SEC in third-down conversion percentage this year, at 42%. Additionally, they are 13th in total conversions, giving up 50. Kentucky and Florida are the only teams that have given up more third-down conversions this season.

The inability to get other teams off the field on first down was clear as day against Auburn. On the first two drives, the Tigers faced five third downs. They failed to convert a first down only once.

This is a loaded problem for the Ole Miss defense. Forcing teams to third down is great and should be celebrated, but unfortunately, that is only half of the battle.

Auburn's failure to capitalize on Ole Miss's first-half third-down woes helps explain why Ole Miss still won. Any competent football team would score more than nine points after giving up more than a 50 percent third-down conversion rate. The Tigers are now a 4-4 football team, which is significantly worse than the teams Ole Miss is looking to be in conversations with at this point in the season.

Third-down defense is critical for Ole Miss to work on in practice this week, as they cannot continue to leave their defense on the field for extended periods against higher-quality teams. A 12-play drive against Auburn that ends in a field goal is likely a touchdown against Georgia.

Is there room for optimism?

Fortunately, the Rebels were able to turn the third-down issues around in the second half and have shown that they can make that a strongsuit in isolated games this season.

In the game against Texas, Ole Miss played well on third down, allowing far fewer completions than their season average. They showed signs of that performance in the second half against Auburn.

In the third half, the Rebels immediately stopped Auburn on third down. Although they gave up two long conversions in the half, they contained them much better. This was a critical factor that allowed Ole Miss to build such a large lead in the fourth quarter. They got their defense off the field and forced Auburn to keep sending their tired defense out.

This week, the Rebels will need to get Georgia off the field to have a chance to win. Georgia boasts talented running backs who will wear down the Ole Miss linebacking corps if Ole Miss doesn't stop them when it can.

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