Auburn keeps College Football Playoff hopes alive

OXFORD, Miss – It was billed an elimination game in staying in the College Football Playoff chase.
If that is the case, Auburn is still alive, barely.
The Tigers overcame committing 13 penalties for 145 yards in beating the Rebels, 35-31, before 62,090 fans at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. In an offensive shootout, the Auburn defense made the biggest play in forcing two Ole Miss fumbles each inside the 5-yard line in the fourth quarter.
"Obviously that is a really big win for us," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "Ole Miss is one of the top teams in the country. To get a win here is a great effort by our players."
The second forced fumble turned an emotion rise out of Ole Miss into a scene of mad-red fans that threw objects on the field. Receiver Laquon Treadwell fumbled as he was going into the end zone when it appeared he scored on a 20-yard reception with 90 seconds left.
Kris Frost forced the fumble that Cassanova McKinzy recovered. The play was reviewed and when it was announced the touchdown call was overturned, the fans roared out boos as Treadwell was being carted into the locker room with a fractured leg.
"When you see your young men put so much in preparing for opportunities like we had, you see the hurt that they go through," Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said.
With Auburn and Ole Miss each having a loss going into the game, the loser was expected to fall out of the top four of the College Football Playoff poll. The Tigers (7-1, 4-1) and Rebels (7-2, 4-2) are third and fourth, respectively, in the 12-member selection committee's first poll that debuted last Tuesday.
With Ole Miss losing, Alabama will likely move into the top four heading into next weekend's games. Ranked sixth in the playoff poll, the Crimson Tide had a bye week. Alabama plays at LSU next Saturday.
The second poll will be announced Tuesday.
Auburn erased a 10-point, second-half deficit with back-to-back touchdown drives. Nick Marshall put the Tigers up 28-24 on a 17-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Davis.
Then after Bo Wallace gave Ole Miss the lead on a 3-yard run, Auburn had a third straight touchdown drive Cameron Artis-Payne capped with a 6-yard run with 10:59 left in the game.
On the next series, Wallace fumbled inside the Auburn 5-yard line with 6:31 left in the game.