kevin steele on auburns 2nd half d

[aubiefifty 17,487]

Kevin Steele on Auburn's 2nd-half defense vs. Mississippi State: 'That's not who we are'

 

 

 

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By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com
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on October 09, 2016 at 5:07 PM

 

 

Kevin Steele and Auburn's defense went hunting for goose eggs Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium. The Tigers came back empty-handed in their chase for the ever-elusive shutout.

Leading 35-0 at halftime, Auburn's defense found itself in an unfamiliar situation. The unit had its largest road halftime lead in 46 years — since a 35-0 lead at Florida in 1970 — and was in prime position for its first shutout since 2008 against ULM and its first SEC shutout since 10 years ago, also against Mississippi State.

After the break, something changed, however. The Tigers' suffocating defense let up, and the Bulldogs were suddenly able to catch their breath while making the final 38-14 margin look somewhat more respectable.

"I feel like we shouldn't have let up any points," defensive end Carl Lawson said. "We should have gotten a goose egg.... But it was a great learning experience. I don't think we've been up like that all season, at least not on an SEC opponent."

Indeed, it was Auburn's largest halftime lead against any SEC team since 1990, when it led Vanderbilt, 42-6, at home. It was uncharted territory for Auburn's defense and, quite frankly, the unit wasn't completely sure how to respond.

The result was a second-half effort that, from some perspectives — though not from coach Gus Malzahn's — took away from the team's utter dominance during the first two quarters.

"We lost a little bit of our edge there at the end, but we'll learn to grow from it," Steele said.

 

Auburn's defense 'feeling unstoppable' after dominating effort against Mississippi State

Auburn's defense put together another stellar outing during the team's 38-14 win against Mississippi State on Saturday in Starkville.

 

In the first half, Auburn's defense completely stifled Mississippi State. The Bulldogs mustered just 91 total yards of offense, including just 30 yards rushing as quarterback Nick Fitzgerald's dual-threat capabilities were compromised by a swarming Auburn pass rush and blanketing secondary.

Mississippi State was just 2 of 8 on third downs, 0 for 1 in the red zone, gained just five first downs and turned it over twice, with one of the turnovers being returned for a defensive touchdown by Montravius Adams.

It left the Bulldogs stunned heading into the locker room, where coach Dan Mullen urged them to not give up in the second half: "Don't let go of the rope."

Auburn linebacker Tre' Williams on team's defense

The second half was a different story for Auburn's defense and Mississippi State's offense. The Bulldogs twice found the end zone in the second half, with the first coming on a 37-yard catch-and-run from Fitzgerald to Keith Mixon after safety Stephen Roberts missed on a diving attempt to break up the pass. The second came on an 8-yard pass from Fitzgerald to Fred Ross, who ran a short cross route and beat safety Tray Matthews to the pylon.

"We lost our focus," freshman defensive end Marlon Davidson said. "We took our foot off their throat and let up some big plays. That's our mistake, but we'll correct that tomorrow in the film room."

RELATED: Grading Auburn's 38-14 throttling of Mississippi State

In all, Auburn's defense allowed 198 yards of offense in the second half, 11 first downs and 5.5 yards per play — a contrast from the 2.8 yards per play allowed before the break. While the defense did force another turnover late in the game, the secondary let up and allowed Fitzgerald to complete 10 of 16 pass attempts for 120 yards and two scores in the second half.

"We just started to get a little more complacent toward the end," linebacker Tre' Williams said. "That's something we can't do. We got to fix and we're not going to let it happen again."

Auburn freshman Marlon Davidson on Tigers's defense vs. Mississippi State

The biggest area of concerns in the second half was the inability to consistently wrap up on tackle attempts, which allowed Mississippi State to make five chunk plays — passes of 18, 37 and 26 yards and runs of 11 and 20 yards — after halftime.

As Lawson put it after the game, the defense should have built off its strong start but "didn't live up to our expectations in the second half."

So, while it was an overall dominating performance from the defense, there was still ample room for improvement heading into the bye week — and Steele will personally make sure his players are aware of that.

"They've been asked to improve every week and I think in most areas we've done that," Steele said. "There's still a few areas we need to improve on. We got a little sloppy in the second half with some of our tackling. That's not who we are and that will be corrected. We need to keep our focus and our edge about us, no matter what the scoreboard says. We'll learn from that."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[au_bsci_04 407]

LOVE it! Greatness in the making. These kids are hungry!

[AUIH1 1,515]

I like that attitude from Steele and the players on D.

 

wde