Sneak peek: Ole Miss
AUBURN | Auburn’s 2019 football schedule begins with a big non-conference matchup, includes a long road trip in September, three more in October and ends with two huge rivalry games at home.
Today, we continue an early look at each opponent with the first home game in more than a month.
WHO: Ole Miss (5-7 last season, 1-7 SEC West)
WHEN: Nov. 2
WHERE: Jordan-Hare Stadium (87,451)
SERIES: Auburn leads 32-11 (AU leads 15-3 at home)
WHAT’S NEW: Third-year head coach Matt Luke hired offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez and defensive coordinator Mike Macintyre in the offseason. Rodriguez had been a head coach at West Virginia, Michigan and Arizona for 17 seasons before taking last year off after his firing from Arizona following allegations of sexual harassment. Macintyre, who was the head coach at Colorado the previous six seasons, was the national coach of the year with the Buffalos in 2016 and assistant coach of the year as the defensive coordinator at Duke in 2009. Luke Also hired Jeff Koonz to coach inside linebackers, Tyrone Nix to coach outside linebackers and Calvin Magee to coach tight ends.
WHO TO WATCH, OFFENSE: Running back Scottie Phillips wasn’t one of the six running backs named to the preseason All-SEC first, second or third teams, but he certainly has All-Conference potential after running for 928 yards and 12 touchdowns on 153 carries. The former junior college transfer enters his senior season as one of the SEC’s most underrated players.
WHO TO WATCH, DEFENSE: Outside linebacker Sam Williams, a Montgomery, Ala., native, signed with the Rebels out of junior college in the 2019 class and enrolled in January. He had 17.5 sacks for Northeast Mississippi Community College last fall and should make an immediate impact for the Ole Miss defense this fall.
OUTLOOK: Ole Miss is eligible for postseason play for the first time in two years but there’s still no guarantee the Rebels can qualify for a bowl game. Only three starters return on offense and redshirt freshman Matt Corral is the likely starter at quarterback.
Corral is talented but doesn’t have a lot of proven weapons other than Phillips. Only one of its five top receivers return from last season in Elijah Moore, who caught 36 passes for 398 yards and two touchdowns as a true freshman. Tight end Octavious Cooley should also be a top target after caching eight passes for 172 yards and a touchdown last year.
The offensive line has to be rebuilt but does return two players with starting experience led by right tackle Alex Givens.
The good news for the Rebels on defense is they return 10 starters, the bad news is the unit ranked last in the SEC allowing 483.4 yards per game. The defensive line should be a team strength led by defensive tackles Benito Jones and Josiah Coatney, but need to improve on a pass rush that produced just 22 sacks last year, which was tied for last in the conference.
All three starters return at linebacker led by Mohamed Sonaho, and a move to the 3-4 gives pass-rush specialist Williams a starting spot and an opportunity to be an impact player. Three starters return to a secondary that was devastated by injuries last season. JUCO signee Jonathan Haynes, who enrolled in January, will probably start at safety.
AUBURN CONNECTION: Koonz is an Auburn graduate where he was a staff assistant from 2002-03 and graduate assistant in 2004 before following Gene Chizik to Texas and eventually rising to co-defensive coordinator under Tommy Tuberville at Cincinnati in 2016.
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