Ole Miss vs. Auburn: Who to watch in Saturday’s SEC matchup at Jordan-Hare

OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss travels to Auburn to take on Hugh Freeze’s Tigers this Saturday at Jordan-Hare. As we inch closer to kick-off, let’s take a look at who has impressed the most from the Auburn roster.

Undoubtedly, the most important player to keep an eye on will be quarterback Payton Thorne — or quarterback Robby Ashford. While Thorne has been Freeze’s starter, the former Ole Miss head coach has also played Ashford. 

Thorne, the Michigan State transfer, has competed 60.7% of his passes for 745 yards, but has has only thrown for 250+ yards one time this season. His touchdown to interception ratio is 4:4. The Tigers’ offense is currently in last place in the SEC at just 27.7 points per game.

Ashford has played in all six of Auburn’s games this season, garnering at least 10 snaps in each. He is considered to be more of a rushing QB as he has tallied 32 rushing attempts to 22 passing attempts. He has run for 153 yards and five TDs in 2023. 

In week five against the Georgia Bulldogs in a very close game at Jordan-Hare, Thorne averaged 7.7 yards per rush on 12 carries. Although Georgia won 20-27, the game went down to Auburn’s final drive in the fourth quarter.

Ashford’s best performance came in week one when he rushed for three touchdowns against the University of Massachusetts. Between Ashford and Thorne, run and pass plays will both be common in hopes of throwing off the Rebel defense.

Lane Kiffin talked about the two signal callers and gave his thoughts on Thorne at Monday’s press conference. 

Lane Kiffin on Auburn’s quarterbacks

Ole Miss linebacker Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste also talked about the two Auburn quarterbacks and says the Rebels will be ready for either one. 

Ole Miss LB Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste

Jarquez Hunter is Auburn’s rushing leader with 202 yards on 50 carries. Sophomore wideout Jay Fair leads the Razorbacks with 18 catches for 196 yards and two touchdowns.

Defense and special teams

Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart — who was named to the Maxwell Award midseason watch list Thursday — will have some key Tigers to watch Saturday as the Auburn defense has been very opportunistic this season, ranking No. 7 in the country with two defensive touchdowns. The Tigers rank No. 2 in the SEC with 11 takeaways this season.

Seniors Jaylin Simpson and D.J. James lead the cornerback room with the most tackles, but most admirably, Simpson has four interceptions, giving him the fourth-most in the country. He has also tallied one pick-six, two pass deflections, and one fumble recovery. Simpson suffered a calf injury against Georgia, and is currently day-to-day; however, he was able to play against LSU.

Similarly, James has two interceptions with one pass deflection.

Moving to the middle of the field, let’s introduce the Tigers’ top two tacklers, linebackers Eugene Ausante and Larry Nixon lll. Ausante has racked up 47 total tackles while picking up three sacks, followed up by Nixon lll who has 28 total tackles.

The linebacking duo has played its most prolific games during SEC play. Ausante had a team-leading nine tackles against Texas A&M and 12 versus LSU to go along with a sack. Against the offensive juggernaut of the Georgia Bulldogs, Nixon lll notched eight tackles, five of them solo.

Asaunte and Nixon III have done their job in SEC play so far, but it will be interesting to see how they handle the tandem of Rebel running backs Quinshon Judkins and Ulysses Bentley IV in addition to the lethal passing game of Dart and company.

Auburn placekicker Alex McPherson is 5-for-5 on field goal attempts, with a long of 53 yards. Oscar Chapman, a 2022 Ray Guy Award semifinalist, is averaging 42.8 yards per punt, with five punts over 50 yards.

Ole Miss and Auburn kick off at 6:00 p.m. Saturday. To find out which players will step up and lead their team to victory, tune into ESPN at 6 p.m. this Saturday. Hotty Toddy!