Auburn (3-3) enters Saturday’s (11 am ESPN) game against No. 9 Ole Miss as a double-digit underdog. After last week’s 42-10 shellacking against No. 1 Georgia, the Tigers are on a two-game losing streak.

Bryan Harsin’s squad beat Ole Miss 31-20 at Jordan-Hare during his first season as the Tigers’ head coach. Auburn has won six consecutive games against the Rebels and holds a 35-11 record against Ole Miss. The Tigers are 13-3 against Ole Miss in Oxford and 17-3 at home, while the series is tied 5-5 at neutral sites.

Harsin was 6-1 after an October 30, 2021, win. Life has changed, and his record is 9-10 in his second season on the Plains.

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Ahead of Saturday’s game, we reached out to Brad Logan of “Inside the Rebels” on the 247 Sports network and host of the BleavInOleMiss Podcast for insight on the Rebels and to answer five critical questions about the game. You can follow Logan on Twitter (@BradLoganCOTE) for more news and updates on Ole Miss.

Let’s get to the questions:

1. What’s covering Lane Kiffin like regularly?

Kiffin is much different in a media setting than you see on his social channels. While you may think he’s an outlandish and over-the-top personality with the media, it’s far from it. Each week he is a very reserved and quiet person,n and that did somewhat surprise me in the beginning.

2. What makes Jaxon Dart special?

Without question is the upside he possesses. The ceiling is very high on what he can become at Ole Miss. We have seen glimpses of that this season with special throws against Kentucky and Vanderbilt. A few over-the-shoulder throws and the way he’s reading coverage are what your top-level QBs do.

That said, he continues to throw interceptions. He had two last week against Vand,y and they were terrible decisions. The bad news is he cannot continue turning it over, but the good news is he continues to improve each week. He’ll need to because the competition will get more challenging, starting on Saturday with Auburn.

3. What is the strongest unit at Ole Miss?

If you had told me the running back room would be the strongest unit midway through the season last summer, I wouldn’t have believed you. The Rebels lost 95 percent of its rushing attack last season when QB Matt Corral and running backs Jerrion Ealy and Snoop Conner left for the NFL. Throw in the fact that Henry Parrish, Jr. went with running backs coach Kevin Smith to Miami, and it was a complete overhaul from an impressive room in 2021. Lane Kiffin went to work both in the Transfer Portal and the high school ranks. Freshman Quinshon Judkins has been a star so far, being tabbed SEC Freshman of the Week a few times. With former 5-star running back Zach Evans, the transfer from TCU, and Ulysses Bentley IV, the transfer from SMU, it has become a loaded room.

4. Is the Rebels’ growth as a program sustainable?

As much as Lane Kiffin utilizes the Transfer Portal at Ole Miss, it remains to be seen. He has proven himself a success during his tenure at Ole Miss. While last season’s heavy recruiting from the portal may prove to be an anomaly, the staff appears to focus more on the high school ranks for the 2023 and 2024 classes. With the NCAA and the governing bodies of college football seemingly changing daily, in regards to the portal and NIL, Lane Kiffin has proven he can adapt with the best of them.

5. A player or two that Auburn fans should be aware of this week?

On offense, the third option at wide receiver has been a question mark all season leading up to the Vanderbilt game. The Rebels finally had someone step up in transfer WR Jordan Watkins. The former Louisville Cardinal grabbed seven passes for 117-yards and one score against the Commodores to lock down that third receiver spot.

Defensively, Ole Miss has been really good on the back end of the defense, led by free safety A.J. Finley. The Mobile, Ala. native leads the team in tackles with 45 and has a forced fumble and an interception this year. Last week against the Commodores, Finley had 13-tackles, with five of them being solo.

What’s your prediction for the game?

We all know the numbers, and they favor the Tigers in almost every category. Deservedly so, as Auburn has effectively owned the Rebels during the series, not just on The Plains.

Auburn has had the Rebels number in Oxford, leading the series 13-2. Owning an overall series lead of 35-10, the Rebels have only beaten the Tigers twice since 2009, and one of those was vacated.

The biggest stat of them all? Auburn is 12-1 since the 2009 season against Ole Miss.

These are two teams that appear to be heading in different directions. Rightly so, many are picking the Rebels to win convincingly, judging by the point spread of 14.5 points in favor of the Rebels.

I hit the pause button on that because a key component of the Tigers’ success over the last two seasons is running back Tank Bigsby.

During the 2020 and 2021 seasons, Bigsby had 269 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Last season in the 31-20 win, Bigsby had 140-rushing yards and two scores. During the 2020 season 35-28 win over the Rebels, he had 129-yards and two touchdowns.

Ole Miss must find a way to limit Bigsby, but I think the Ole Miss offense will be too much on Saturday. I believe Auburn keeps it much closer on Saturday and has a puncher’s chance to win.

This one could go down to the wire.

Ole Miss 31 Auburn 27

Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group.