Auburn called for most penalty yards in SEC this season

OXFORD, MISS. -- A significant portion of one of the marquee games of the season was brought to college football fans by the color yellow.

Auburn and Ole Miss combined for 19 penalties for 193 yards, including 15 for 147 during the first half, as the No. 4 Auburn defeated No. 7 Ole Miss, 35-31, Saturday night at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

The 13 penalties for 145 yards against Auburn were the most by any SEC team this season, topping Ole Miss' 117 yards of penalty yards in its game against Memphis.

"Pretty uncharacteristic of us," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "We got to do better in the future and we'll correct that and we'll address that."

It was the most penalty yards against Auburn since incurring 105 yards in fouls against Arkansas in 2011 and most penalties committed by the Tigers since they had 15 against Florida in 2002.

Auburn was called for 10 penalties for 105 yards in the first half and the Tigers trailed 17-14 at halftime.

"We had a couple of negative plays; I called a reverse, that was a bad call on that one they brought pressure and kind of put us in a bind," Malzahn said. "There was a a lot of penalties. ... It's hard to win against a top team when you have that many penalties but it's a tribute to our players. They overcame it and won."