Ole Miss has gone heavy into the transfer portal, and that approach has left the Rebels with a handful of familiar faces for Auburn fans. When the Tigers come to Oxford this Saturday, four former Auburn players will be in the spotlight, each with something to prove in a game Ole Miss badly needs.
The biggest name in the group on the defensive side is cornerback Antonio Kite. Kite entered college as a four-star recruit in the 2022 class and was ranked No. 10 in the nation by 247Sports.
He first committed to Alabama, redshirted as a freshman, and saw limited action in 2023 before transferring after Nick Saban’s retirement. From there, he moved to Auburn and appeared in eight games in 2024, finishing with six tackles and one interception before hitting the portal again.
247Sports listed Kite as the No. 112 CB in the portal, and Ole Miss landed him.
The Rebels have gotten much more out of him than Alabama or Auburn did. Kite produced five passes defended and 34 tackles in 2025, and he has carried that success into 2026 with 25 tackles and one interception.
He now heads into this matchup looking to keep his run going against the school he just left.
Jayln Crawford brings a similar storyline, but with a different path. A four-star recruit who chose Auburn, Crawford posted strong numbers over two seasons there, finishing with 11 passes defended, two interceptions and 30 tackles.
Ole Miss wanted more stability in the secondary and saw Crawford as the kind of player who could step in and start right away. 247Sports ranked him the No.
7 CB in the transfer portal, and he has delivered with 18 tackles, one pass defended and two interceptions so far this season. Crawford and Kite are both expected to start in the secondary against Auburn.
Wide receiver Horatio Fields is another former Tiger who could matter for Ole Miss on Saturday. Fields originally signed with Wake Forest and spent two seasons there before breaking out in 2024 with 39 catches for 463 yards and four touchdowns.
He transferred to Auburn ahead of the 2025 season, but an injury wiped out most of that year. He still finished with 12 receptions, 109 yards and a touchdown.
Fields then had a winding offseason. He transferred again and signed with Missouri, but did not enroll after Cayden Lee, a former Ole Miss wideout, signed there.
Missouri released him from his signing bonus, and Fields ultimately landed with the Rebels. Ole Miss has gotten a productive season from him, as he has 22 catches for 284 yards and four touchdowns in 2026.
With the Rebels looking for more from their passing game after a rough first half last week, Fields is one of the players to watch.
Quarterback Deuce Knight has the most intriguing path of the four, even if he may not play against Auburn. Knight was once expected to be the Tigers’ quarterback of the future after flipping from Notre Dame.
247Sports ranked him the No. 6 QB in the 2025 recruiting class.
As a true freshman in 2025, he appeared in two games and started one, and his best showing came against Mercer when he completed 15 of 20 passes for 239 yards and two touchdowns while adding 162 rushing yards and four touchdowns on nine carries.
Knight’s Auburn stay ended after new head coach Alex Golesh brought Byrum Brown with him from USF. Ole Miss needed another quarterback because Trinidad Chambliss might not get a sixth year of eligibility, so the Rebels added Knight.
Chambliss’s injury, however, means Knight won’t face Auburn on Saturday. Even so, he could wind up being Ole Miss’s future - the same role Auburn once envisioned for him.
The Rebels need a response after their disappointing loss to Texas, and this game gives them a chance to clean up some glaring issues. The defense, especially the secondary, has to be better after Arch Manning and the Longhorns picked it apart. That makes Crawford and Kite especially important in this matchup.
On offense, Ole Miss needs more than the uneven first half it got last week from Chambliss and company. Fields gives the Rebels a chance to get a lift from one of their top receivers. Auburn may be the opponent, but for these four former Tigers, Saturday offers something more personal: a chance to show the school they left what it missed.
In Other News...
Ole Miss Just Won A Huge In-State Recruiting Battle
Ole Miss landed a major in-state recruiting win when Mitchell Turner, one of Mississippis top prospects and a four-star defensive lineman, announced he is officially committed to the Rebels and has closed his recruitment. Turner had drawn plenty of interest and kept looking at his options, including a visit to Alabama, but he ultimately settled back on the program closest to home, giving Ole Miss a significant addition on the defensive front.
For a Rebels staff trying to keep elite local talent from drifting elsewhere, this kind of commitment carries extra weight. Turners standing as a nationally ranked prospect only raises the stakes, and his upcoming appearance in the 2026 Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game will give everyone another look at what Ole Miss is adding as it continues to build around the states best players. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Could Get A Timely Boost Up Front Vs Auburn
Ole Miss got through the Texas game without a sack allowed, but the offensive line still had to work around a key absence at right tackle. Terez Davis left that game with an injury and was held out as a precaution, a development that mattered even in a performance where the pass protection held up and the running game was not as sharp.
Pete Golding said Davis is expected back for the Auburn matchup, which would be a welcome bit of stability up front for a line trying to keep building on its pass-protection success. His return would also give the Rebels another piece to lean on as they look to find more balance on offense and avoid making that side of the ball do extra work. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Just Landed In A Postseason Picture Fans Will Debate
With the postseason picture still taking shape, ESPNs latest bowl projections have started to map out where the SECs top teams could land if the season ended right now. Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach updated their matchups across the conference, and the list includes the familiar heavyweights along with the rest of the leagues crowded middle, all of it tied to current rankings and how teams have performed to this point.
For Ole Miss fans, the interest is less about the certainty of any one destination and more about the range of possibilities still in play. Projections this early are always fluid, especially with so many SEC teams still sorting themselves out, but they do offer a useful snapshot of how the Rebels fit into a postseason race that could keep shifting right up to the end of the regular season. [Read more 🡒]