Ole Miss Rebels Find Yet Another Gritty Win vs. the Auburn Tigers

The Ole Miss Rebels once again found a way to win on Saturday night, this time on the road in a hostile environment.

Once again, it wasn't the prettiest of wins, but the No. 13 Ole Miss Rebels got the job done on Saturday night, picking up a 28-21 win over the Auburn Tigers.

This is another instance of the Rebels simply finding a way to win. The bottom line is that this has become a hallmark of the 2023 team in Oxford: even when things don't go perfectly on both sides of the ball, more times than not, they find a way to come out on top.

The Ole Miss offense was stagnant for most of the second and third quarters. Part of that is understandable given history (if you believe in that sort of thing) since the Rebels had only won at Auburn three times in program history. Weird things happen at night at Jordan-Hare Stadium, and that crowd always gets involved.

Mississippi Rebels running back Quinshon Judkins (4) celebrates a long run in the first quarter Auburn Tigers take on Mississippi Rebels at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023 :: © Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK

As the saying goes, however, "defense travels," and it certainly did for Ole Miss on Saturday night. There was a period of the game where both Ole Miss and Auburn seemed to be spinning its wheels offensively, but common sense seemed to indicate that, eventually, the team with the better offense would find a way to score and put the game away.

Late in the third quarter, Ole Miss did just that, gaining a 21-14 lead on a carry from quarterback Jaxson Dart. That advantage was later pushed to 28-14 in the fourth quarter, and despite a Tiger score with less than a minute remaining, the difference was just too much to overcome.

At the end of the day, no, it wasn't pretty for Ole Miss fans. Maybe that's frustrating; maybe it's not. But at the end of the day, you don't look at "pretty" wins at the end of the season. You look at wins, period. 

So far, Ole Miss has six of them, and this team each week seems to put up gritty performance after gritty performance.

Would it be easier to be clicking in all phases of the game on each drive? Probably, but maybe that's not what this team is. Maybe this team is just a team that wins, regardless of what it takes. 

In the weeks to come, we'll find out with certainty, but being able to hold on and win games you're supposed to win is a sign of a good team. So far, Ole Miss has done that this season.