OXFORD — JJ Pegues remembers the last time a nationally-ranked Ole Miss team headed to Auburn.
It was Oct. 30, 2021, and Pegues was a sophomore defensive lineman for the Tigers.
Auburn built an early lead that night and held on for a 31-20 win, using the emotion of a packed Jordan-Hare Stadium to its advantage.
No. 13 Ole Miss (5-1 overall, 2-1 in the Southeastern Conference) returns to the Plains Saturday (6 p.m., ESPN) to face Auburn (3-3, 0-3). This time, Pegues, an Oxford native, will be in an Ole Miss uniform. He knows Auburn is a different cat at home, but he believes this Ole Miss team is prepared.
“We were on a losing streak and Ole Miss was coming in hot and I think they were ranked in the top 10, maybe, at that point,” Pegues said. “So we knew they were coming into a hostile environment and we used the energy against them but I feel like this year and this team, we’ve blocked out so much noise from the outside — things not even from the stadium, just other stuff. We’ve stuck together as a team and we’re closer and I feel like that’s a great advantage for us.”
Pegues played for Ole Miss last season when the Rebels beat Auburn in Oxford, 48-34, so he got the playing-his-former-team thing out of the way. He does, however, expect to feel some emotions returning to a place he called home for two seasons.
“It’s like any other week,” Pegues said. “I know Coach (Lane Kiffin) talked to me earlier in the week and he told me to treat it like any other week or any other game and go dominate and do what I do. Obviously, I played there for two years. It’s going to create a lot of emotions going in but at the end of the day, we have to go in there into a hostile environment and try to get a win.
“It’s going to be real loud. Like I said, I played there two years and they have a great atmosphere and it’s going to be a hostile environment. We just have to have great communication and just have little keys for offense and defense and go in there and get a win.”
Kiffin said earlier in the week Auburn is a different team at home, noting that the shifts show up in analytics. Pegues said he remembers feeding off the crowd when he was wearing the orange and blue and he knows the crowd will be a factor Saturday night.
“I feel like the crowd plays a big part of just the environment and the energy, when I was there, that we brought,” Pegues said. “No matter what our record was or what the score was, we felt the energy from the crowd. Definitely at home, we felt like we could go undefeated there. Again, they’re trying to find things on the offensive and defensive side and I know they will have the crowd’s energy with them. They have a ranked team coming in so our mindset is to treat it like any other game, use the crowd as our energy and juice and try to get out of there with a W.”
Trip to Tuscaloosa prepared Rebels: Linebacker Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste and offensive lineman Quincy McGee said Tuesday they know Jordan-Hare will be loud but they believe another trip to the state of Alabama will have them ready.
Ole Miss lost at Alabama, 24-10, last month, and the Rebels said that environment is one they learned a lot from.
“Playing at Alabama set me up for the rest of the season,” Jean-Baptiste said. “I’m good.” “I feel like if you can play in Alabama’s stadium with 106,000 people, you can play anywhere,” McGee said. “It was kind of rocking. …I kind of feel like Alabama set me up for the rest of the year.”
Kiffin named to watch list: Ole Miss football head coach Lane Kiffin has been named to the Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year Award Watch List, as announced by the American Heart Association and the Bryant Awards on Tuesday.
Kiffin was among 26 coaches nationally and five within the SEC named to the watch list, which is given annually each January to a college football coach for contributions that make the sport better for athletes and fans alike by demonstrating grit, integrity and a winning approach to coaching and life – both on and off the field. In honor of legendary Alabama coach Bear Bryant, the American Heart Association and the Bryant family present the award each year to raise awareness and critical funds for scientific research to eliminate needless suffering and death from cardiovascular disease and stroke, the leading causes of death globally.
Kiffin has led the 12th-ranked Rebels to a 5-1 start in 2023, the third straight season he has done so through six games – the best such streak at Ole Miss since the Rebels did so in six straight seasons from 1957-62. The Rebels are currently one of six teams nationally with multiple AP Top 25 wins this season, with a 37-20 ranked road victory over No. 22 Tulane on Sept. 9, and an instant classic 55-49 thriller over No. 12 LSU on Sept. 30.
Kiffin is in his fourth season at Ole Miss, where he has led the Rebels to three consecutive bowl berths to start off his time in Oxford. In 11 years at the NCAA level, Kiffin has posted an all-time record of 89-48, including a 28-14 mark at Ole Miss. The Rebels ranked No. 3 nationally in rushing offense (256.6) and No. 8 in total offense (496.4) last season.
Kiffin guided the Rebels to a 10-3 record in 2021, the first 10-win regular season in school history. The Rebels finished the season ranked No. 11 in both the AP and AFCA Coaches Poll, its highest final ranking since 2016. Ole Miss ranked top-20 in the FBS in nine different offensive categories in his first season in 2020.
The 38th annual Coach of the Year award winner will be announced live from Houston’s Post Oak Hotel on Wed., Jan. 10, 2024. The watch list, finalists and Coach of the Year recipient are voted on by the National Sports Media Association, the Bryant Awards’ Executive Leadership Team and the Bryant family.
In addition to the Coach of the Year, the Bryant Awards will also present Conference Coach of the Year awards to each of the Power-5 conferences and one from the Group of Five. Former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr and Ole Miss legend Archie Manning – along with his wife, Olivia – will be recognized as well, with Carr receiving the 2024 Paul “Bear” Bryant Lifetime Achievement Award, while the Mannings will receive the 2024 Heart of a Champion Award.
2023 Bear Bryant Coach of the Year Watch List
Jeff Brohm – Louisville
Mack Brown – North Carolina
Troy Calhoun – Air Force
Curt Cignetti – James Madison
Jamey Chadwell – Liberty
Ryan Day – Ohio State
Kalen DeBoer – Washington
Eliah Drinkwitz – Missouri
Mike Elko – Duke
James Franklin – Penn State
Willie Fritz – Tulane
Jim Harbaugh – Michigan
Lane Kiffin – Ole Miss
G.J. Kinne – Texas State
Dan Lanning – Oregon
Lance Leipold – Kansas
Mike Locksley – Maryland
Mike Norvell – Florida State
Lincoln Riley – USC
Nick Saban – Alabama
Deion Sanders – Colorado
Steve Sarkisian – Texas
Kirby Smart – Georgia
Jonathan Smith – Oregon State
Mark Stoops – Kentucky
Brent Venables – Oklahoma
