Rudi Johnson made sure it didn't happen. Johnson rushed for 165 yards on 29 carries and two touchdowns as Auburn beat No. 19 Mississippi 35-27 on Saturday night to give Tuberville a victory over his former team.
"It's big that it's over with," said Tuberville, who left Ole Miss for Auburn two days after the end of the 1998 season. "I'm glad that it's close to the first game of the year, so we can get the hype out of the way."
As the game ended, the Auburn players raised Tuberville onto their shoulders as the crowd loudly booed.
"It's nice to come out of here with a victory for Coach Tuberville and his staff," Auburn quarterback Ben Leard said. "We knew it was going to be hostile."
Auburn was last in the country in rushing last season, but Johnson, the junior college transfer, has rushed for 339 yards in two games. The Tigers' leading rusher last season had 330 yards.
"This was the first time in a long time that we've run for more than we've passed," said Leard, who had two 1-yard touchdown runs.
The Tigers had 261 yards rushing, with fullback Heath Evans complementing Johnson with 56 yards and a touchdown.
Deuce McAllister had 257 all-purpose yards and scored three touchdowns, including an 87-yard punt return that gave Ole Miss (1-1, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) a 27-21 lead in the third quarter. But Auburn (2-0, 1-0 SEC) answered McAllister's speed with Johnson's power in the fourth quarter.
On a fourth-and-2 play, Johnson broke through the left side of a tightly packed Ole Miss line and rumbled 42 yards for a touchdown that gave the Tigers a 28-27 with 13:59 to go. After an interception by Courtney Rose with 8:02 left, Auburn put together a 37-yard drive that took 6:21 and ended with Leard's touchdown.
Stanford Simmons' diving interception with 1:27 left to play sealed the victory It was the third interception thrown by Romaro Miller. Leard said that the team gave Tuberville a game ball.
Johnson became the first Auburn runner since Stephen Davis in 1995 to have back-to-back 100-yard games.
"Rudi Johnson gave us a lot of trouble," Ole Miss coach David Cutcliffe said. "I have a feeling he is going to give a lot of teams fits."
Auburn, led by Johnson and fullback Heath Evans, jumped out a 21-7 with 9:16 left in the second quarter.
McAllister ran for 104 yards on 19 carries and almost single-handedly brought Ole Miss back. His first touchdown was a 26-yard burst up the middle at 7:39 of the second quarter that made it 21-14.
1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH FINAL
--- --- --- --- -----
Auburn 14 7 0 14 35
Mississippi 7 7 13 0 27
First Quarter
Mis-Heard 11 pass from Miller (Binkley kick), 8:03.
Aub-Leard 1 run (Duval kick), 4:12.
Aub-Ru. Johnson 7 run (Duval kick), 2:13.
Second Quarter
Aub-Evans 6 run (Duval), 9:16.
Mis-McAllister 26 run (Binkley kick), 7:39.
Third Quarter
Mis-McAllister 1 run (kick failed), 10:27.
Mis-McAllister 87 punt return (Binkley kick), 4:53.
Fourth Quarter
Aub-Ru. Johnson 42 run (Duval kick), 13:59.
Aub-Leard 1 run (Duval kick), 1:41.
Aub Mis
--- ---
First downs 21 17
Rushes-yards 51-261 32-152
Passing 160 105
Comp-Att-Int 13-26-0 11-26-3
Return Yards 147 152
Punts-Avg. 5-49 4-36
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 12-112 6-64
Time of Possession 34:22 25:38
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Auburn, Rudi Johnson 29-165, Evans 10-56, Carter 4-27,
Leard 7-9, Moore 1-4. Mississippi, McAllister 19-104, Stackhouse
2-32, Gunn 7-20, Sanford 2-8, Miller 1-(minus 11), team 1-(minus
1).
PASSING-Auburn, Leard 13-26-0-160. Mississippi, Miller
11-26-3-105.
RECEIVING-Auburn, Worthy 3-37, Rudi Johnson 2-34, Green 2-26,
Carter 2-13, Daniels 2-6, Willis 1-38, Robert Johnson 1-6.
Mississippi, Taylor 4-30, Heard 3-67, Armstrong 1-7, Zeigler 1-1,
McAllister 1-1, Gunn 1-(minus 1).
A-52,368.