That's Suss! An appreciation for the completeness of Zach Evans in advance of Auburn

Vanderbilt last week sold out to slow down the Ole Miss rushing attack, which is ranked No. 1 in the SEC after six undefeated weeks for the Rebels.

It ultimately didn't matter. Sure, Ole Miss was slowed in the first half, resulting in its first halftime deficit of the season. But the Rebels went on to run for four touchdowns and 143 yards on their 28 combined attempts — good enough for 5.1 yards per carry.

The Auburn Tigers, an SEC West foe, who the Rebels (6-0, 2-0 SEC) host Saturday at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN, are free to try to replicate Vanderbilt's game plan.

But as Nick Suss (Clarion-Ledger) explains in this edition of Talk of Champions, they shouldn't expect to outright stymie a stable led by a still-not-appreciated-enough Zach Evans.

“I don’t think we’ve given enough credit to Zach Evans,” Suss said of Evans, currently ranked as the No. 2 running back prospect in the 2023 NFL Draft by Mel Kiper (ESPN).

“We’ve obviously given enough credit to Quinshon Judkins as a true freshman for doing what he’s doing, but having the two of them be as successful as they have, and really, with the exception of the one or two games where Evans clearly was not fully healthy, I think Evans has shown why he’s the feature back in this offense.”

Lane Kiffin hasn't yet conquered Auburn (3-3, 1-2) as Ole Miss head coach.

It wasn't for a lack of offensive output.

The Rebels on the ground alone had a two-game rushing total of 440 yards on 90 carries in their two previous losses. The Tigers also gave up 245 yards and five touchdowns and 292 yards and six touchdowns, respectively, to the two best rushing teams they’ve played this year in Penn State and Georgia.

“There’s a lot of talent (in the Ole Miss backfield), and I don’t think Auburn’s just going to shut them down because they schemed to shut them down,” Suss said.

“But if Auburn does keep packing the box, if Auburn continues the same strategy Vanderbilt did, we’re going to have to see Ole Miss throw the ball successfully. This is a good pass defense, so they may try to lean into that, but if Ole Miss can run the ball as successfully as Penn State and Georgia did, it’s not going to matter.”

Plus, Nick brings to the surface a scorching-hot Eli Manning take (the most consequential player in program history?) Ben Garrett didn't know he had, as well as throws Ben's words back at him in regards to the death of WAOM thinking.

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