Auburn Football: 3 reasons Tigers will beat Ole Miss

3. Auburn Football defense is back with a vengeance

The defense has been a little broken to say the least. There have been key injuries this season and it has been quite evident in some games where you could see Auburn struggling too hard to stop the ball. Especially on runs.

According to defensive end Colby Wooden, Auburn is getting their key defensive guys back on the field. It is looking more and more likely that junior linebacker Owen Pappoe will return against Ole Miss. We have not seen the star of the defense since the Tigers played Penn State. They are going to need all hands on deck to slow down the high octane offense of the Rebels.

Having a home-field advantage will certainly help that task. Zakoby McClain and Chandler Wooten are leading the defense in tackles. McClain with 53 total tackles. Wooten just behind him with 52 total tackles on the season.

Stopping the run is key to winning the game. If the Rebels want to win they have to do so by throwing the ball in the air. Then they will have to deal with cornerback Roger McCreary, and safety’s Smoke Monday and Bydarrius Knighten who all have interceptions this season. I predict one of them will tally on another interception.

Wooden had this to say about the new coaching staff:

"”One of the key things I’ve noticed is that if something is not working or needs to be fixed, they make the adaptation.”"

Adaptability is key on defense and stopping the run. The coaching staff will find anything that’s not working on defense and fix it immediately. Ole Miss runs a lot of different plays. With different types of backs and different styles of running. Bryan Harsin has prepared his guys to stop the run inside, outside, and in between tackles. The rebels too have a talented backfield. They did well stopping Arkansas’ run game I expect more of the same on Saturday night.

Defensive end Eku Leota has four sacks this season along with Colby Wooden and Derick Hall. They will be putting lots of pressure on Matt Carrol. With his injury he is not going to want to run on these guys, and if he does he is not getting far. This is a much better defense than the Rebels faced against the LSU Tigers. They will not fare as well in the plains against a stronger and tougher defense of the Auburn Tigers.

This is also a defense good at forcing fumbles and getting them. Expect their hands to be all over the football. The defense will not let Ole Miss have their way with them at home.