Photo: Auburn wide receiver Sammie Coates catches a second-quarter touchdown pass in front of Ole Miss defensive back Cody Prewitt at VaughtÐHemingway Stadium in Oxford Miss., Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014. (Mark Almond)

When a Single Elimination Game Eliminates Two

SEC West Championship Quest

Leading up to the biggest battle in the SEC West, two one-loss teams, No. 3 Auburn and No. 4 Ole Miss pushed and challenged each other in ways neither endured up to this point in their eleven week season. With the historical announcement Tuesday evening and the first ever College Football Playoff Rankings  released by a twelve member committee this game was tagged with the moniker, “Elimination Game.”  If you believe that a two-loss SEC team will not make it into the four-team playoff, then that name fits.

On a clear night with a crisp 45 degree temperature, bow-ties were popping, stick-less shakers shaking and Ole Miss fans cheered mind-numbingly loudly from a packed home field in Vaught Hemingway Stadium. But in just a few plays the scary landsharks, which gave the Crimson Tide its only loss this year, seemed more like swimming with the dolphins for the Auburn Tigers who scored on their opening drive.  Auburn decided the Ole Miss Rebels, Bears, Landsharks, insert name of the week, needed a little help.  What happened next was described by Auburn head football Coach, Gus Malzahn, as “pretty uncharacteristic of us.”  The Tigers self-inflicted (mostly) 145 yards in personal fouls, pass interference and late hits to name a few, the most penalties, 13, since a loss to Florida in 2002.  More yellow flags were thrown at Auburn than gum wrappers swirling around Gus Malzahn’s feet.

After the second touchdown-trading shooting match in as many weeks and crazy high 145 yards in penalties, the game ended with a second loss for Ole Miss and season-ending injury for their star receiver, sophomore, playmaker, Laquon Treadwell who broke his left fibula and dislocated his left ankle on a final Ole Miss attempt to score the winning touchdown for his team. The 35 – 31 victory was just what Auburn needed to continue its hunt for the first ever college football playoff, but the celebration was muted by concern for the seriously injured Ole Miss Student-athlete.

Having already lost one game to Mississippi State, Auburn does not control its path to the GA Dome. The Tigers needed to beat Ole Miss.  Check mark for Auburn.  Mississippi State remains undefeated, thus controls its own destiny if the team continues to win.  For Auburn to pass Mississippi State who seems headed for the I-20 on-ramp toward Atlanta, Auburn needs the Bulldogs to take two losses to remain hopeful to win the SEC West, win the SEC Championship game over the weaker side of the SEC conference, the SEC East, and move on to the inaugural College Football Playoff.  Whew!  Does that seem like a daunting task?

With one loss to LSU, Ole Miss also needed to win the Auburn game to control its own destiny toward the playoff, hence the game being called an “elimination game.” With Auburn handing Ole Miss their second loss, the Rebel Bears dream of winning the SEC West just left town.  Adding playmaker, Treadwell, to the long list of Ole Miss players suffering various injuries could prove to be the final blow to topple not just their SEC West hopes, Playoff dreams, but also a chance to win their in-state rivalry game to the undefeated Mississippi State Bulldogs, which won the Egg Bowl last year.

While it appeared that the Tigers victory over Ole Miss got them on the Gus bus headed toward competing for their second SEC Championship in as many years, it may have also eliminated the Tigers from the same. If the Landsharks can’t hold off the Bulldogs without their star receiver, Auburn’s repeat SEC Championship dreams may have hitchhiked out of town with Ole Miss’s hopes of breaking their SEC Championship void since 1963.  What was once a single elimination game, may prove to eliminate both Auburn and Ole Miss from the SEC West competition.  While winning a battle in the trenches against the Rebels, Treadwell’s injury may cost Auburn the war.

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