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The University of Mississippi Athletics
FRIDAY FLASHBACK: Ole Miss - Auburn 1999
10/30/2009 | Football
FRIDAY FLASHBACK rewinds to some of the memorable Ole Miss games from this week's all-time series. When Tommy Tuberville left Oxford for the Plains in 1998, the Ole Miss-Auburn series took on new meaning, and the first encounter following the coach's departure certainly lived up to its billing. A decade later, the following is the Clarion-Ledger's account of the events of Sept. 25, 1999.
Rebels have revenge 24-17 in OT
By Robert Falkoff
Clarion-Ledger
No reliable field goal kicker.
No reliable short-yardage offense.
No success in the Auburn-Ole Miss series.
No lie.
The man branded as a liar by Ole Miss fans learned some painful truths Saturday about what raw emotion can do to elevate the performance of a football team. Given a second life when Damon Duval missed a 37-yard field goal at the end of regulation, the fired-up Rebels used a Romaro Miller to Cory Peterson touchdown pass in overtime and a subsequent goal-line stand to stun the Tigers 24-17 in Jordan-Hare Stadium.
As soon as Jeff Klein's final desperation pass in overtime fell harmlessly to the ground, the Rebels stormed the field and let out all the pent-up frustration that has been inside them since Tuberville last addressed the Rebels last Thanksgiving night and said he had "some important decisions to make."
The Rebels cavorted on the field for several minutes while deep snapper Bobby Killion raced to the locker room and brought the victory cigars that became a Tuberville trademark when Ole Miss won big games under him.
"I can't describe what this means to our players," tailback Deuce McAllister said. "If you were in our locker room the night of the Mississippi State game last year, you could sense the hurt. To come over here and show these guys we can play means so much."
Ole Miss struck early with Miller throwing a 54-yard touchdown pass to Peterson and hooking up with tight end Doug Ziegler on a 44-yard play that set up McAllister's 2-yard touchdown run.
But with the Rebels up 14-3 just 17 seconds before halftime, Reagan King's punt was blocked cleanly by Travaris Robinson and recovered by Rashaud Walker for a touchdown.
That numbing play meant Ole Miss coach David Cutcliffe had to do some fast talking to get his team back up for the second half.
"I just tried to charge 'em up," Cutcliffe said. "We had played well, we should have been up 14-3. But we still had the lead and an opportunity to win the game."
Auburn, which used Noel Mazzone's horizontal passing game for the bulk of its offense, lost quarterback Ben Leard (shoulder injury) when Al Rice buried him on a busted play in the third quarter. Jeff Klein came on and lofted a 25-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Hook with 3:49 left in the period.
Les Binkley's 45-yard field goal tied the game at 17 with 5:03 remaining and Ole Miss got another possession starting at its 42 with 3:16 to go.
That's when Miller made his only glaring mistake of the day as Walker dropped back into coverage and picked off a pass to give the Tigers a chance to win with a field goal at the end of regulation.
"The guy stepped down like he was going to the flat with the fullback, but he dropped back into the coverage and tricked me," Miller said. "If they had kicked the field goal, I wouldn't have been able to walk off the field."
Duval lined up the game-winner with 17 seconds remaining, but drove it just outside the right goalpost as the Rebels jumped for joy.
"Just to have a second chance was so great," Miller said. "I was able to buy a little time (on the second play of overtime) and Cory beat his man to the post."
The Tigers came back with a 22-yard completion on their first play of overtime. But with first-and-goal at the 3, Auburn's lack of power running game came back to haunt the Tigers. The Ole Miss defensive line stuffed Auburn for losses on three consecutive running plays before Klein threw incomplete to touch off the Rebels' wild celebration.
"We thought we could punch it in," Tuberville said.
The Ole Miss players thought differently.
No short-yardage game. No reliable field goal kicker. For the Rebels, the Tuberville day of irony was deliciously sweet.
