Auburn lost to Ole Miss on Saturday by a score of 41-20 and saw its season record drop to 1-5.  The Tigers trailed by a score of 14-0 at the end of the first quarter, but fought back in the second.  The score was 17 apiece at halftime, but the second half went decidedly to the Rebels.

     Auburn could manage just 60 yards of offense and 3 points during the final two quarters of play.  The Rebels dominated the second half and snapped their 16 SEC losing streak.

     Ole Miss is now 4-3 overall and 1-2 in the conference.  They will travel to Arkansas this week.

     Auburn will travel to Vanderbilt for another early (11:21 am) Saturday contest.

     Clint Moseley started his first game of the season for Auburn and had a respectable first half of play.  He was 8 of 15 for 90 yards at intermission, but could complete only 3 of 10 passes for 22 yards in the second half.  Kiehl Frazier did not see any action for the Tigers on Saturday.

     Frazier, who had started the previous five games, is said to have a sore shoulder.  The decision to start Mosely was not made until Friday.

     “He was limited,” Auburn offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler said. “We decided to start Clint when (Frazier) had a sore arm … it was a decision that we had to make based on injury.”

     The decision on the starter for the Vanderbilt game will be made at some point during practice this week.

     “I think that Clint did some nice things particularly early in the game,” Chizik said. “I thought he gained a little more confidence as the game went on and unfolded. We’ll have to go back and re-evaluate this week.”

     Neither quarterback has shown the ability to provide a spark for the struggling Tigers.  Third string signal-caller Jonathan Wallace saw his most action of the season Saturday.  Wallace finished the day with 6 carries for 14 yards.  He did not attempt a pass.

     The Tiger’s rushing could manage only 101 yards rushing to go along with the 112 passing yards.  Defensively, they allowed 451 total yards.

     Those numbers indicate that the problems run much deeper than just the quarterback position – and they do.  That is clearly where the most pressing issues lie, though, and without some marked improvement this could turn out to be one of the worst seasons in many years.

     The Tigers finished with a 3-8 record in the 1998 season and that could be just where this team is headed.  Head Coach Terry Bowden resigned after winning just one of the first six games, the same mark Gene Chizik has this year.

     Four of those losses were to teams ranked in the top 25.  Three of those teams, LSU, Tennessee and Florida were ranked in the top 10.

     This Auburn team has only played one ranked opponent.

     The trip to Vanderbilt will provide Auburn with another opportunity to get things headed in the right direction.

     Vanderbilt has a 2-4 record and just one SEC win against Missouri.  The Commodores played tough against Florida Saturday night before falling by a score of 31-17.

     Offensively, they average 365 yards and 20.5 points per game.  Those numbers are among the lowest in the conference (11^th and 12^th respectively).  That is good news for the Auburn defense.  The bad news is that the Auburn offense now ranks as the worst in the conference in both categories.  The Tigers are averaging just 287 yards and 16.2 points this season.

     The Vanderbilt defense is middle of the road by SEC standards.  They allow 22.3 points and 351 yards per game.  Again, the numbers are better than what Auburn has produced so far this season.  The Tigers are giving up an average of 26.5 points and 416 yards per contest.

     This is a game that is certainly winnable, but to beat any SEC opponent Auburn will have to do things they haven’t been able to do all year.  The Tiger quarterbacks have combined for 11 interceptions and have thrown just four touchdown passes.  That is a recipe for disaster.

     Defensively, the numbers are just as bad.  Opposing quarterbacks have thrown for a total of ten touchdowns and only one interception.

     To get out of Nashville with a victory, the Tigers will need to win the turnover battle.  They’ll have to apply pressure to quarterback Jordan Rodgers and force him to throw the ball before he is ready.  Conversely, the offense will need to protect the quarterback and limit interceptions.

     The plan is a simple one, but executing it won’t necessarily be easy – not for this team.