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Saturday, October 30, 2010

Running pre-game Auburn-Ole Miss blog post

You're looking LIVE at Jerry Hollingsworth Field at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss. It doesn't look like much from the outside but it's a pretty nice stadium once you get inside, as you can see from the above picture.

We're here early in anticipation of a tackle football game that will take place later tonight between the Auburn Tigers and Ole Miss Rebel Landshark Black Bears presented by Hotty and Toddy. Should be an entertaining game.

Personally, I would have chosen Rebel Alliance leader Admiral Ackbar as the school's mascot. He would have fit perfectly into the theme of this game ("IT'S A TRAP!").

As usual, we'll be blogging as the game gets closer with any pertinent information. If you have checked out my game advance, click here to do so. It's about Ole Miss quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, who has been a Cam Newton-lite this year.

You can also follow the blog on Twitter for quick information and in-game musings. Tweet at me if you've got any questions. I usually check often throughout the game.

Here's some pre-game minutia you might care to know:
  • Ole Miss has requested to wear white uniforms, which means Auburn will be in its usual home blue. But the Rebels are still calling for fans to wear blue to the game. This is weird, but it is true.
  • Auburn leads the series 25-9.
  • Auburn had won seven straight games in Oxford before Mississippi won in 2008.
  • The Tigers (8-0, 5-0 SEC) are No. 1 in the BCS rankings for the first time in school history.
  • Auburn is ranked third in the Associated Press and coaches polls, its highest ranking since No. 2 in 2006.
  • The Tigers are the only team in the AP Top 25 that has four wins against ranked teams. Only Wisconsin has beaten as many as two.
  • Auburn is fourth nationally in rushing offense (303.3 ypg), 10th in total offense (486.8 ypg) and 11th in scoring offense (38.6 ppg).
  • Ole Miss has allowed 32.0 point per game, 12th in the SEC.
  • Auburn quarterback Cam Newton, who leads the SEC with 1,077 rushing yards, is the only player in school history to rush for at least 170 yards in four straight SEC games.
  • Newton leads the nation with 14 rushing touchdowns and 27 combined passing and rushing touchdowns.
  • Ole Miss averages 211.1 rushing yards per game, third in the league. But Auburn has been stingy against the run. The Tigers are third in the league in rushing defense, allowing 103.4 yards a game.
  • Auburn has allowed 28 points in the fourth quarter and overtime this season.
  • Tigers DT Nick Fairley leads the SEC and is third nationally with 17 tackles for loss. Auburn is 14th nationally as a team, averaging 7.5 tackles for loss per game.
  • The Rebels are 0-6 all-time against the nation’s top team.
  • Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt has five wins against teams ranked in the top five, including a 50-48 triple-overtime victory at No. 1 LSU while with Arkansas in 2007. In all five games, Nutt’s team was unranked.
  • Rebels QB Masoli is one of four quarterbacks nationally to average at least 50 rushing yards and 180 passing yards per game. He's averaged 57.1 rushing yards and 180.0 passing yards per game this year.
  • Ole Miss has allowed seven sacks this year, fewest in the SEC. It ranks 17th nationally.
  • The line is Auburn by 7.
UPDATE, 2:18 p.m.: Ole Miss has just passed out 3D glasses at every press box seat. It appears there are also 3D glasses on every seat in the stadium. On the back: "Comin' at ya at the end of the first half!" I'm intrigued.

UPDATE, 3:08 p.m.: No sign of LB Daren Bates (shoulder) or CB T'Sharvan Bell (hamstring) in the pre-game prayer circle. Judging by his tweets, Bates did not make the trip. Bell I don't know about.

UPDATE, 4:07 p.m.: Apparently Ole Miss has gone with red uniforms today, not white. Not sure why it was imperative that Auburn wear blue. Maybe it's an election thing: blue vs. red.

UPDATE, 4:09 p.m.: Bates and Bell aren't in the pre-game stretching. Looks like they're not here.

UPDATE, 4:49 p.m.: Lineup changes: Jonathan Evans will start at OLB in place of Bates. Mike Dyer will start instead of Mario Fannin.

UPDATE, 5:00 p.m.: And the great uniform debate is over. Ole Miss is wearing all-gray to honor the 1960 national championship team. According to a sheet passed out, it is "believed to be the first time the Ole Miss football team has worn a jersey that was not red, white or blue."

3 comments:

Scott M. Brannan said...

nice work AB. diggin the tweets as always

postermom said...

Read the glasses are for a 3-D promo thing on the jumbotron. Also, they will come in handy if anyone's team starts looking one dimensional.

War Eagle AC-47 said...

We beat the "Curse of the First." But Ole Miss fell to "the curse of waering a spiffy different uniform." Let that be a lesson to all who venture out in strange clothes.