Defense ready to move forward

[aubiefifty 18,248]

Auburn defense ready to move on following solid first game

Jason Caldwell

3-4 minutes

---

 

AUBURN, Alabama—A defense that returns veterans Colby Wooden, Marcus Harris, Derick Hall and Eku Leota up front, Owen Pappoe at linebacker, cornerbacks Nehemiah Pritchett and Jaylin Simpson along with safety Zion Puckett, Auburn has plenty of experience and talent to build around in 2022. The Tigers got an opportunity to get on the field in the season opener against the Mercer Bears and while there were plenty of good things on that side of the football, Coach Bryan Harsin said there’s plenty to work on as they get ready for San Jose State.

“I thought we did a good job in the run game,” Harsin said. “I think we could have had a few more sacks, and we missed some tackles, and that's the first game. That was one of the areas that you always feel like, you know, 'Did we do enough work?' It's hard to tackle live anymore in practice. I mean hardly anybody does it. Some teams might do it. You might do it in one-on-one situations, but it's all in that live work.

“Now they've got some live bullets. It's not our guys because you never get to tackle the quarterback in practice and that's the unfair thing for the defensive guys. We never put anybody back there live to let them tackle them as a quarterback, and I don't know many teams that do so then, all of a sudden, here you are and you see that quarterback move and it's your first chance to go tackle and they probably get a little excited about it. We will learn from that and move on.”

Rush end Eku Leota said he and others on defense felt comfortable on opening night with many of the guys competing together in 2021. “Just the chemistry was already there from last year,” Leota said. “Coming in we already know what the guys are all about. It was big for the chemistry on defense.”

The next step for the defense is to create turnovers. That starts with getting more pressure up front after the Tigers had just one sack and three tackles for a loss against Mercer. Getting after the quarterback allows the secondary to play tighter coverage for a shorter amount of time.

9COMMENTS

Completing 21-36 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns, Mercer’s Fred Payton directed an offense that converted on 8-18 third downs and had a four minute advantage in time of possession. Harsin said he needs to see more from his defense and especially a veteran secondary and that starts with getting the ball back to the offense.

“I have a really high standard for our secondary and I always have,” Harsin said. “I think if that ball is in the air, and just speaking from (the perspective of) an offensive coordinator, if they're going to put the ball in the air we should have a chance to go compete for the ball. That's what I think you do in the back end when you have a good football team. I want to see our DBs, I want to see them compete for the ball. If they make the catch, if he places it perfectly, if he can do all those things as a quarterback, great. we'll accept that.”