Mississippi wide receiver Laquon Treadwell is driven off the field after an injury during an NCAA football game against Auburn in Oxford, Miss., Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014. (DM Photo | Cady Herring)
There was a somber tone to the post-game interviews after the Rebels lost 35-31 in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium to the Auburn Tigers.
The Rebels are not only dealing with their second loss, which most likely eliminates them from playoff contention but also with the injury suffered by star sophomore wide receiver Laquon Treadwell. Treadwell fractured his fibula and dislocated his ankle trying to score what would’ve been the go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter but instead resulted in a fumble.
The interviews eschewed the normal format of reporters peppering the players and coaches with questions about the strategic aspects of the game and instead asked far fewer questions than normal, focusing mostly on the emotion of the loss and the game as a whole. The disappointment could be heard in many of the players’ voices, as some even seemed to be holding back tears.
Head coach Hugh Freeze was the first to address the media, showing his disappointment and sadness in the loss.
“When you see your young men put so much into preparing for opportunities like we had tonight, you see the hurt that they go through, the coaches and the families and the kids and everybody that’s close to the program (as well). Whoever lost that game tonight was going to feel that way,” Freeze said. “It was a great college football game, against two really good teams, but it doesn’t take away any of the sting that’s in that locker room right now when you felt like you played well enough to win it.”
Year three of the journey under Hugh Freeze has been everything himself, his staff, his players and Rebel fans could’ve asked for and more. The loss to Auburn is devastating and draining, to say the least, and it was clearly shown.
“If two and half years ago you would’ve told us that we would be here being relevant in who decides the SEC west and a chance to go play in a bowl game, maybe around New Year’s Day or New Year’s Eve, we all would’ve signed up for it,” Freeze said. “I’m so proud of our kids, the way they fought through injuries and difficulty and adversity. They stared it in the face and had a chance to win a huge football game tonight and didn’t get the break that we needed to win it.”
Auburn’s offense had the best game against the Rebel defense of any team this season, scoring 15 more points than any other team and gaining 507 total yards, split almost down the middle with 254 passing yards and 253 rushing yards.
Senior quarterback Nick Marshall had a great day, going 15 of 22 passing for 254 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 50 yards and two more scores as well.
“I was disappointed that they could run the ball as effectively. I thought we had a good plan going in, so I’ll give them the credit,” Ole Miss defensive coordinator Dave Wommack said. “I thought they did a great job of executing and distracting our guys from where we needed to be and made plays. We didn’t execute like we needed to execute.”
Freeze praised the play of Auburn’s skill position players and also felt that the team’s defensive shortcomings were due more to the talent of Auburn rather than defensive mistakes.
“They threw a couple of deep balls that were just a big receiver making a big play. It wasn’t that we were in the wrong spot, but you have to give them credit for that. Their kids made those plays,” Freeze said. “I know two of them were on third down. That really hurt us. It’s just hard to stop what they do with the players that they have.”
The Ole Miss offense was able to play well, too, getting 492 yards against Auburn’s defense. Senior quarterback Bo Wallace had a great game, completing 28 of his 40 pass attempts for 341 yards and two touchdowns, also adding 61 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
“I was locked in. I was locked in all week,” Wallace said. “I got some first and second down throws. I thought our plan was really good. Guys made a lot of good plays. We didn’t have too may drops. I thought offensively we left it all out there, and that’s all you can ask for.”
Wallace did this despite a battered offensive line group that had four players struggling with injuries. The line allowed Wallace to be sacked four times and to be pressured many others. Star sophomore left tackle Laremy Tunsil missed the game, but junior center Ben Still was able to play through the pain and make the start.
“Man, he just gutted it out,” Freeze said of Still. “He’ll be hurting the rest of this week for sure; I’m just proud of him.”
The two plays in the game that really stood out to Freeze was a fourth quarter fumble by Wallace and Treadwell’s fumble on the play where he suffered his injury.
“They’re going to score their points; they do all the time. They have every game,” Freeze said. “We were finding ways to score ours, but we turned it over twice inside the five on our last two drives, and that, ultimately, is the difference.”
Wallace commented on his fumble, where he had already fallen but was on top of several Auburn defensive players when the fumble occurred.
“I was lying there. My forward momentum was stopped,” Wallace said. “All night when I’m getting sacked, I’m getting driven back, and they’re not even blowing the whistle. So all night, it was like that, but I’ve got to hang on to the football.”
With the second loss of the season for Ole Miss, the Rebels will most certainly take a drop in the next College Football Playoff rankings. Wallace also commented on what he expected from the next College Football Playoff rankings after this loss.
“I don’t see how when you watch the game, if they’re really watching games, we can drop far. We lost a game by that much, so I don’t see how far they can drop us,” Wallace said. “Our season is still alive we feel like. We’ll find out Tuesday how far we fall, but we’re going to keep fighting, and crazy things can happen.”
Emotions were high after the loss for many reasons, but there is still a lot to play for.
“We’ve had a difficult stretch right here, and I think defensively, we’ve played really well until tonight, and I think our guys have a lot of pride. I think they’ll bounce back,” Wommack said. “They’ll have to against Presbyterian. We still have a lot of things to play for, and, as good as this league is, you never know what’s going to happen.”
