Kenny Irons rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown on 32 carries, as 19th-ranked Auburn trounced Ole Miss, 27-3, in SEC action at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Brandon Cox completed 17-of-27 passes for 205 yards with a touchdown for the Tigers (6-2, 4-1 SEC), who rebounded from last Saturday's crushing overtime loss against LSU to post their sixth win in seven tries.
Micheal Spurlock started for the Rebels and ended 10-of-18 for 105 yards with an interception before being replaced. Ethan Flatt spelled Spurlock and finished 11-of-17 for 81 yards for Ole Miss (3-5, 1-4), which has lost two of its last three games.
After a scoreless first quarter, Auburn took a 7-0 lead with 13:07 left in the second as it used a bit of trickery to find the end zone. Following a successful 4th-and-1 quarterback sneak by Cox, Courtney Taylor took an end- around and it appeared he would run down the right sideline. However, just before crossing the line of scrimmage, Taylor stopped in his tracks and tossed the ball downfield where Devin Aromashodu was wide open for a 28-yard score.
The Rebels got within 7-3 as Matt Hinkle kicked a 43-yard field goal with 8:41 left in the first half. Ole Miss began the drive at the Tigers' 28-yard line following a fumbled punt. However, the Rebels could only move five yards before settling for the field goal.
Auburn countered with a lengthy 13-play, 63-yard drive that resulted in a field goal. John Vaughn, who missed 5-of-6 attempts in last Saturday's game against LSU, booted a 35-yard kick to extend the Tigers lead to 10-3 with 2:37 to play in the half.
Then, following Steve Gandy's interception at the Ole Miss 23-yard line, Auburn took over with great field position. However, the Tigers failed to make a first down and again settled for Vaughn's short kick to take a 13-3 lead into the intermission.
Auburn went ahead 20-3 with 6:46 left in the third as Cox found Ben Obomanu in the back of the end zone for a one-yard score on 4th-and-goal. The drive began at Ole Miss' 42 after a fumble, and was highlighted by 28 rushing yards from Irons and 17 yards passing by Cox.
The Tigers capped the scoring with 5:34 left in the fourth quarter, as Irons finished off a short two-play series with a four-yard run. The Auburn drive began at the Rebels' 25-yard line after a short punt and fair catch interference penalty on the home team.
Each club had a great chance to score in the first quarter, but both were unsuccessful on fourth-down tries from inside the five-yard line.
Ole Miss got to the Tigers one, but could not get in on a toss play, and then on the ensuing drive, Auburn elected to go for it on 4th-and-goal from the three and Cox's pass fell incomplete.
Game Notes
Ole Miss' Mike Espy led all receivers with 63 receiving yards...Auburn has won 14 of its last 15 SEC games, with its lone loss coming last week versus LSU...The Tigers have won 19 straight games when scoring at least 20 points, including a 6-0 mark this year...The Tigers lead the all-time series 22-8.
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