Nick Marshall stood up after taking a final knee in the victory formation and gingerly walked back to the home sideline as teammates rushed the Jordan-Hare Stadium field in celebration.
It might as well have been a well-earned victory lap for Auburn’s junior quarterback.
With the game plan to use his athletic ability more, Marshall broke out with a career-high 140 rushing yards on 14 carries and a pair of 5-yard rushing touchdowns as his feet powered Auburn to a 30-22 upset of No. 24 Ole Miss on Saturday night.
“It felt great because I’ve been waiting for this time to really pop one, and tonight I popped one, and I was able to really just make plays (with my feet),” said Marshall, who also added 93 yards through the air on 11-of-17 passing.
Before Saturday, Auburn (4-1, 2-1 SEC) lost its past 10 games against ranked opponents since a 16-13 upset of No. 10 South Carolina in Columbia on Oct. 1, 2011.
Entering the game, Marshall had only 148 rushing yards on 41 carries in four games, an average of 37 yards per game.
But Saturday, under the direction of Tigers coach Gus Malzahn and offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee, Marshall became the running threat Auburn fans have been waiting to see since his arrival on campus this summer.
“I was just taking what the defense gave me … and I was just reading the defense,” Marshall said. “I really knew what was coming the majority of the time because I watched film with coach (Malzahn) and coach Lashlee also. So I was just prepared for what they had coming.”
Marshall did most of his damage on the Tigers’ three scoring drives, contributing 186 of his 233 yards of offense in 27 plays. During those 9 minutes and 25 seconds, Marshall rushed for 110 yards on nine carries and finished a perfect 5-of-5 for 76 yards passing. Eight of his 14 carries resulted in an Auburn first down.
“It was just a matter of him feeling more comfortable,” Malzahn said. “He made some very good decisions today on the zone reads. I don’t think there was a whole lot of bad decisions, and I think that week off helped him, too.”
Marshall executed the game plan with precision, starting on Auburn’s first drive.
After a quick pass to Marcus Davis in the right flat, Marshall found tailback Tre Mason on a 29-yard screen pass to get to the Ole Miss 47-yard line.
Two plays later, Marshall gashed the Rebels for 28 yards on a designed keeper up the middle to the Rebels’ 12-yard line before Mason closed out the drive with two consecutive runs, including a 1-yard touchdown into the heart of the defense.
“It got me going because it gave me a lot of adrenaline on the inside, and I was just going off my instincts on the field and playing fast,” Marshall said of his 28-yard run.
Auburn’s opening six-play, 80-yard drive took just 1:33, making it the Tigers’ quickest drive in an SEC game this season.
Ole Miss answered with a 42-yard field goal by kicker Andrew Ritter on the ensuing drive, but Rebels quarterback Bo Wallace was unable to handle Auburn’s defensive pressure. The senior signal-caller threw into coverage on his third offensive possession, resulting in Tigers safety-hybrid Robenson Therezie picking it off and racing 78 yards the other way for a touchdown. The pick-6 gave Auburn a 13-3 lead with 1:39 left in the first quarter.
Following a three-and-out on the Tigers’ third possession, Marshall directed a 12-play, 80-yard scoring drive with 11 of those plays coming by way of the run, including four carries for 56 yards by Marshall, who capped the drive with the first of his two 5-yard touchdown runs.
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