Emory Blake made a near-instant impact in his first full game action in almost a month.

The junior wideout, who missed all but a couple of snaps over the last three weeks with an ankle injury suffered against South Carolina on Oct. 1, started Saturday night’s game against Ole Miss and got into the action on the second drive.

Blake caught a screen pass and ran for 11 yards, then made an athletic grab on a deep in on a play-action pass for a 17-yard gain and another first down.

The junior hauled in four catches for 46 yards in the first half.

No single Auburn receiver recorded more than two catches in an entire game during the three weeks Blake was out.

Blake also put the Tigers ahead 24-17 with a 25-yard touchdown reception from Clint Moseley in the third quarter, his first touchdown catch since the Florida Atlantic game on Sept. 24.
Everybody Lutzie
Junior Philip Lutzenkirchen is now the all-time Auburn leader in touchdown catches by a tight end.

Lutzenkirchen caught his 11th career touchdown pass in the first quarter, on a 13-yard pass from Moseley to put Auburn up 7-0.

He added another score in the fourth quarter, reaching behind him to snare a Moseley pass one-handed and diving for the pylon for a 4-yard score to increase Auburn’s lead to 41-17.

Lutzenkirchen’s 12 touchdowns have come in 37 career catches, or once every 3.08 catches in his time at Auburn.
Taking advantage
Auburn recorded 10 of its 17 points in the first half after receiving gifts from its defense in the form of turnovers.

The first came on the Rebels’ first drive, when Eltoro Freeman popped the ball loose from Ole Miss wideout Nickolas Brassell and Corey Lemonier scooped it up, returning it 9 yards to the Ole Miss 40.

The Tigers cashed that in six plays later on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Moseley — the first of his Auburn career — to Lutzenkirchen to put Auburn up 7-0 with 11:00 left in the first.

The second came on an underthrown ball from Ole Miss quarterback Randall Mackey, one that T’Sharvan Bell picked off and returned 41 yards to the Rebels’ 38-yard line.

Cody Parkey hit a 40-yard field goal five plays later, giving the Tigers a 17-10 lead on Ole Miss with 9:52 to go in the first half.

Parkey also hit a 31-yard field goal in the fourth quarter after Nosa Eguae pounced on a fumbled handoff at the Ole Miss 22 to give the Tigers a short field.

Off the schneid
Running back Mike Dyer put a stop to two streaks Saturday night.

First, the sophomore ran for more than 100 yards for the first time in three weeks, busting a 48-yard run in the third quarter to put him over the century mark.

Second, Dyer scored a touchdown for the first time in three weeks, going over left guard from 4 yards later in the drive to put Auburn up 31-17 right at the third-quarter buzzer.

The Wright stuff
True freshman defensive tackle Gabe Wright earned the first start of his college career Saturday night, stepping in for sophomore Kenneth Carter.

Wright, from Columbus, Ga., played in all eight of the Tigers’ games before Saturday, recording three tackles and 1.0 tackles for loss.

Carter was dressed out and played against Ole Miss.

Personnel notes
Freshman wideout Sammie Coates dressed out for the first time this season Saturday night but did not play.

Coates, a 6-foot-2, 178-pounder from Leroy, underwent foot surgery in the offseason and was expected to redshirt this year.

Linebacker Justin Garrett also dressed out Saturday and played in mop-up duty in the fourth quarter.

The 6-foot-1, 198-pounder from Tucker, Ga., recorded two tackles over the season’s first three games but had not dressed since then.