College Football – (3) Auburn at (4) Ole Miss in Must-Win Game

(3)Auburn Tigers at (4)Ole Miss Rebels (-2.5, 50 o/u)

Both the SEC title and a berth College Football Playoffs are on the line this Saturday as Auburn (6-1, 3-1 SEC) travels to Ole Miss (7-1, 4-1 SEC). The winner will not wrap up the conference title or a playoff spot, but the loser can wave goodbye to both.

Considering how easy it is for players to start looking ahead, Tigers head coach Gus Malzahn is doing everything he can to keep his team focused. He said, “We’ve got to go there and we’ve got to play well to win. That’s the only thing on our mind. We aren’t looking ahead to this and that. We are going to Ole Miss and we are trying to win the game.”

Auburn’s success hinges, in part, on star running back Cameron Artis-Payne.

“We found a way to win games late last year and we still feel that same way about this team,” said Artis-Payne, who is the SEC’s second-leading rusher (118.7 YPG). “We feel like if it’s tight in the fourth quarter we will find a way to win.”

The Tigers will be facing an Ole Miss team that has not allowed more than 20 points all season. The concern for Rebels coach Hugh Freeze is his squad’s offense, which has been struggling of late, including in last weekend’s 10-7 loss at LSU.

Quarterback Bo Wallace said, “Hopefully we can be more aggressive this week, but I’m going to run the plays that are called. That’s all I can do.”

This game held at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford has all the hallmarks of a classic SEC battle that will more than likely come down to the wire. These teams are so evenly balanced, the play isn’t clear-cut. But considering how dominant the Rebels have been at home (posting a perfect record both SU and ATS), taking the Rebels and laying the points makes the most sense.

(Photo credit: Fds527 at en.wikipedia [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped from its original.)