Auburn Ole Miss Betting – Tigers Bring Unbeaten Record Across State Lines
The Auburn Tigers have not yet played an elite team this year outside the state of Alabama. Nevertheless, the nation’s No. 1 team must be on guard this week in Oxford, Mississippi.
NCAA football betting: Auburn Tigers @ Ole Miss Rebels
Online Betting Odds: Auburn -7
Why To Bet On Auburn
The Tigers have Cameron Newton, and other teams don’t.
There comes a moment each season when a group of college football experts point to a play as the moment a Heisman Trophy was won. That play was probably witnessed this past weekend in Auburn, Alabama, as Newton led the Tigers to an 8-0 mark thanks to a 24-17 win over rival LSU Tigers.
With the game tied at 10 in the third quarter, Newton broke through the line of scrimmage and avoided a cluster of LSU linemen. He then broke sharply to his right to shed an LSU safety who had crept toward the tackle box to stuff the run. Newton then made a balletic sidestep to his left in order to evade another LSU defender, and he then showed off an even more stylish stutter-step to his left to leave a third LSU tackler in the dust. After those multiple diagonal cuts, Newton turned on the afterburners for 25 yards and outraced LSU’s very best and most accomplished athlete, cornerback Patrick Peterson, to the goal line. The spellbinding 49-yard run gave Auburn the lead in a game it won by seven points; the athletic brilliance of the play matched its significance on the scoreboard. This was truly a Heisman-winning play, and it makes the conversation about second place irrelevant, at least for now. Ole Miss will have an incredibly difficult time stopping Newton, and that’s why Auburn – even if its defense is flat – can outscore the Rebels on Saturday night in the Magnolia State.
Why To Bet On Ole Miss
The Rebels have suffered through a very tough season, losing home games to Jacksonville State and Vanderbilt Commodores and falling to 3-4 on the season. If Ole Miss wants to make a bowl game this year, a win here against Auburn would really help, although the Rebels have three very winnable contests in November (Louisiana-Lafayette, Tennessee Volunteers and Mississippi State Bulldogs). Bowl eligibility is one motivating factor for coach Houston Nutt’s team, but the biggest source of adrenaline for the Rebels this weekend is that they’ll have a chance to knock off the top-ranked team in the United States.
When the season began, Ole Miss did expect to play a No. 1 team, but that was before top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide fell to South Carolina one week before playing Mississippi on Oct. 16. Now, the Rebels will indeed get to play the number one team in the land, but it’s the other Alabama team. This is yet another one of those games during a college football season in which an underdog playing at home will throw all its eggs in one basket, both emotionally and tactically. The Rebels will certainly spill the tank in an effort to score a historic ambush-style upset. Ole Miss was not a motivated team in September, but it played Alabama on relatively even terms and put up a decent fight at the Arkansas Razorbacks before fading in the fourth quarter. If the Rebels can somehow contain Newton – not on an overall level, but in the red zone – Ole Miss can force just enough field goals to limit Auburn’s scoring and win a shootout behind their own talented quarterback, Jeremiah Masoli, who is used to playing in big games after playing for the Oregon Ducks in the 2010 Rose Bowl against the Ohio State Buckeyes. Ole Miss has the quarterback to win this game. If the Rebels can hold Auburn to no more than 30 points, they’ll have a very reasonable chance of winning this game.
How The Game Will Play Out
Auburn has shown tremendous resilience this season, but the Tigers have also played every difficult opponents at home. When Auburn visited the Kentucky Wildcats a few weeks ago, the homestanding Wildcats tied the Tigers at 31 in the fourth quarter before Auburn pulled out a 34-31 win on a last-play field goal. Ole Miss should be able to put up a similar level of resistance this Saturday. Newton should be trusted to win the game late, but Ole Miss is actually a good choice to cover the spread. Auburn will win by four points.
Auburn Ole Miss Betting Pick: Ole Miss +7
