Auburn, Ala.—In a game in which Auburn tried to take away the run defensively and force Ole Miss to pass as much as possible, getting a pass rush from the defensive ends was a big key to the Tigers’ 35-14 win over the Rebels Saturday night in Oxford.
Stanley McClover, along with Quentin Groves and Doug Langenfeld gladly filled that need and came up with four of the Tigers’ seven sacks and McClover, who had two of those sacks, forced a fumble in the fourth quarter that the offense converted into the final touchdown of the game.
“We knew that once our offense got clicking and they (Ole Miss) had to get into pass situations it was over,” McClover says about the game plan forcing the Rebels to pass as much as possible. “Once we get a team into pass situations with me and Quentin Groves coming off the end it is over. It felt good to get back there twice and I am just going to try and keep doing that every week.”
Despite the Tigers’ executing their defensive game plan and coming away with a 21-point victory, McClover says that the Rebels were ready to play and gave Auburn their best shot.
Stanley McClover was excited about his Tigers improving to 9-0 with a victory at Ole Miss. Auburn had seven sacks vs. the Rebels.
“It was real tough,” the sophomore says about the tough, physical game. “We have got the X on our back right now so teams are going to play a lot harder. We can’t take any team lightly. We expected Ole Miss to come out and give us a good game and we knew they weren’t going to give us anything so we just had to go out there and take it.”
With the win Auburn clinched the SEC’s Western Division title and assured itself a spot in the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 4th. McClover says that was his team's biggest motivation when things got tight. “It feels good man,” he says about being division champions. “We have been talking about this all week.
“So, we were just playing hard and getting in the game and making sure that we couldn’t be stopped out there because that is a big thing for us to play hard, especially for the seniors—it is their last go-around so we want to end it with a bang,” McClover adds.
Junior linebacker Antarrious Williams says that the play of the young defensive ends, which has been improving, has been huge for the defense as a group. “They have come a long way from day one until now,” Williams explains. “They are playing good ball.
“I just thank them, along with the D-tackles, too because they keep the linemen off of me.” Williams notes. "And that gives me the ability to go out and make plays, and they just played a real good game and I thank them for that.”