Auburn Tigers vs Mississippi Rebels Box Score on Oct 29, 2016

The Sports Xchange
Oct 29, 2016

Auburn increased its winning streak to six games as the 15th-ranked Tigers beat host Ole Miss 40-29 Saturday night behind a career-high 236 rushing yards by running back Kamryn Pettway.

The Tigers (6-2 overall, 4-1 SEC) persevered in the game that featured 11 lead changes and 1,124 total offense for both teams. Ole Miss (3-5, 1-4) has a three-game losing streak despite the effort of quarterback Chad Kelly, who set a school record with 465 yards passing.

Ole Miss tight end Evan Engram broke his own school record for receiving yards in a season by a tight end. He had 662 yards in 2014. After Saturday's game he has 682, but his costly drop of a pass from Kelly with 7:32 left in the game dealt a blow to the Rebels' chances.

On a second-and-8 at the Auburn 38-yard line, Kelly found Engram open on a post pattern but Engram mishandled the pass that would have resulted in a touchdown. On the next play, Kelly threw a pass that was intercepted by Auburn cornerback Joshua Holsey, who returned the ball 47 yards to the Ole Miss 25.

After Pettway ran the ball twice for 22 yards to the Ole Miss 3, running back Kerryon Johnson ran in the end zone with 5:58 remaining. Carlson's extra-point kick put the Tigers ahead 40-29.

Carlson kicked four field goals in the game, including two earlier in the fourth quarter that gave the Tigers a 33-29 lead with 8:13 left.

Ole Miss's next possession after Johnson's touchdown run stalled on downs as Kelly threw four straight incomplete passes at the Auburn 41 with 4:21 left. Kelly's 465 passing yards gives him 12 games of at least 300 pass yards in his career, an Ole Miss record.

Neither defense put up much resistance from the start as both teams scored on all nine possessions of the first half while amassing a combined 623 yards in total offense and 31 first downs. The Rebels had 20 of those first downs.

Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly threw two touchdown passes and engineered three field goal producing drives in the first half. Placekicker Gary Wunderlich's third field goal, from 26 yards with five seconds left in the half, gave the Rebels a 22-20 lead.

Auburn kept pace with two scoring runs -- 41 yards by Pettway and a 1-yard plunge by Johnson -- and Daniel Carlson's two field goals. Carlson's 32-yarder with 2:50 left in the half put the Tigers ahead 20-19.

Kelly led Ole Miss with 297 yards passing in the first half, completing 22 of 35 passes to nine different receivers. Engram had six receptions for 46 yards by halftime and the Rebels had 351 yards in total offense at that point.

Pettway's 148 yards rushing on 14 carries highlighted an Auburn offense that produced 272 yards in the first half.

NOTES: Eight of the previous 11 games in the series between Auburn and Ole Miss were decided by double digits, four of those by 20 points or more. ... Entering the game, Auburn scored 446 points (31.8 points per game) in 14 road games during the Gus Malzahn era. ... The offense for Ole Miss was mostly productive before Saturday, ranked second in the SEC in scoring (37.0 points per game) and first in passing (305.4 yards per game). The Rebels also converted 31 of 33 red-zone attempts, tied for seventh in the country (93.9 percent). ... Before the game, Ole Miss senior QB Chad Kelly threw a TD pass in 20 straight games, which was tied for the third-longest active streak in the nation, and senior TE Evan Engram led all tight ends in the nation with 605 receiving yards. ... Auburn was one of just six teams nationally to rank in the top 18 in both total offense and total defense before playing the Rebels.