Ole Miss Rebels DT J.J. Pegues Prepares for 'Homecoming' Game vs. Auburn Tigers

Ole Miss Rebels defensive tackle J.J. Pegues spent two seasons with the Auburn Tigers, but on Saturday, he will look to knock off his former team.

OXFORD, Miss. -- For a while, J.J. Pegues had two homes.

Pegues, a native of Oxford, Miss., signed with the Auburn Tigers out of high school, opting to not join his hometown Ole Miss Rebels to begin his collegiate career. After two years on The Plains, however, Pegues shucked his second home of Auburn and returned to his roots, joining the Ole Miss roster where he has made an impact at defensive tackle.

This week, his No. 13 Rebels will face Auburn on the road, and it will be somewhat of a homecoming for Pegues as he looks to take down his former program at Jordan-Hare Stadium. How is he handling the emotions of this task?

"Like any other week," Pegues said. "I know coach talked to me and he was telling me to treat it as any other game and any other week. Go dominate and do what I do. I played there for two years, and there will be a lot of emotions going in, but at the end of the day, we've got to go in there to a hostile environment and get a win."

Oct 7, 2023; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels defensive linemen JJ Pegues (89) attempts to get into the Arkansas Razorbacks during the first half at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandato / © Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

Auburn seems to perform better at home historically than on the road, especially against Ole Miss. In fact, the Rebels have only won in Auburn, Ala., three times in program history with the most recent coming in 2015.

Pegues knows this advantage better than anyone, and the Rebels will have to be ready for it on Saturday night.

"It's going to be really loud," Pegues said. "They've got a great atmosphere, and it will be a hostile environment. We've just got to be on great communication and go in there and get a win.

"I feel like the crowd plays a big part in the environment and the energy. No matter what our record was or the score was, we (at Auburn) felt like we could go undefeated there. I know they'll have crowd and energy with them. Our mindset is to treat it as any other game and use the crowd as our energy and juice."

Ole Miss and Auburn will kick off at 6 p.m. CT on Saturday, and the game will be televised on ESPN.