This is the Depth Dossier: the Auburn Tigers, Week 9.

A false start on a two-point try turned a one-score football game into a blowout, and that's the story of Auburn's 45 to 15 loss to Ole Miss.

Auburn actually hung within 17 to 15 midway through the third quarter. Quarterback Byrum Brown scored his sixth straight game with a rushing touchdown, and it looked like a real football game. Then Auburn lined up for a two-point conversion that would have tied it. A pre-snap penalty pushed the attempt back, Brown's pass fell short, and Ole Miss scored the final 28 points of the night. Brown threw for 195 yards and accounted for both Auburn touchdowns, but he was sacked four times and lost a fumble that turned into points. The run game managed just 63 yards, against 224 for Ole Miss.

That two-point play really was the hinge of the whole game. Down 17 to 15 with a little over six minutes left in the third quarter, Auburn had a chance to tie it. The false start pushed them back, the conversion failed, and they never got that close again.

Special teams were a problem all night, not just a footnote. Auburn had an extra point blocked in the second quarter, which kept them trailing 7 to 6 instead of tying the game right there. Then, down 24 to 15 in the third quarter, officials ruled that returner Rayshawn Pleasant had signaled a fair catch on a kickoff fielded by running back Jeremiah Cobb at the 1-yard line. That pinned Auburn deep in its own territory and led to a three-and-out.

The ground game tells you who was in control. Auburn ran for 63 yards. Ole Miss ran for 224. That gap is why Auburn had to throw the ball on nearly every snap, and why four sacks and ten tackles for loss piled up behind an offensive line that couldn't move anybody.

Turnovers and penalties finished the job. Brown's second-quarter fumble deep in Auburn territory turned into an Ole Miss touchdown, and defensive back Shamar Arnoux drew two penalties on fourth down during a seventeen-play Ole Miss touchdown drive. And in the fourth quarter, two former Auburn players, quarterback Deuce Knight and defensive back Horatio Fields, both scored against their old team.

Now, onto the health front, because the injury news matters more than any depth chart change. Defensive back Andre Jordan Junior left in the first quarter after a receiver landed on him and didn't return. And a defender named Fegans exited in the second quarter shortly after picking off a pass. His availability for Arkansas is still pending word from head coach Alex Golesh. If both of them sit, expect Sylvester Smith-Reed and the rotational cornerbacks to see a lot more snaps in a secondary that already had its hands full.

On offense, running back Jeremiah Cobb took over as the lead back, averaging five yards per carry on seven attempts, with Omar Mabson the Second working in as a change-of-pace option. With only 63 rushing yards total for the team, that's not saying much, but Cobb clearly earned the bigger share. Backup quarterback Ti'a saw mop-up duty, throwing for 54 yards and scrambling for nine more. It didn't threaten Brown's job, but it does lock him in as the clear number two quarterback.

Up front, four sacks and ten tackles for loss have put the pass-protection group under real scrutiny, though no personnel change has been announced. The extra-point protection unit needs fixing after a second blocked kick situation, even though kicker Alex McPherson has otherwise been clean on field goals. Defensive linemen Kaleb Harris and Bryce Deas, who each had eight tackles, remain the engine of that front and should keep getting the bulk of the defensive line snaps.

Next up is Arkansas, and the health of that secondary is the thing to watch all week.

This was the depth dossier. For everything college football, be it depth charts, data or dossiers, head over to C F B Depth dot com. We will be back next week. This was an AI-generated podcast from content developed by real human beings passionate about college football.