There are some encouraging aspects of the Auburn Tigers’ season thus far, even though they finished the month of October on the road, dropped three games they could have won at home, and opened the season with a 2-3 record.
The 27-21 defeat to the No. 21 Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday is just another illustration of how Auburn’s defense has managed to keep them competitive in every game. Auburn limited the Sooners’ total offensive yardage to just 291 yards.
Head coach Hugh Freeze was happy with the Tigers’ work on that side of the ball against the Sooners and believes the squad has progressed over the season.
“They’ve been really consistent and containing the quarterback with rush lanes, aside from the third and longs,” Freeze remarked. “There’s no denying the progress in stopping rush lanes and the defense of the third down in this game. When you asked me about it, I felt that our children and staff did an amazing job, and it all boils back to the few plays we had previously discussed. Finally, in terms of defense, it really boils down to the game-winning pass play that we let in the fourth quarter.”
This season, the Tigers’ defense hasn’t always been at its best, but they showed improvement against the Sooners, especially on third down.
“We made significant progress on our third down work this week as the defense held them to 290 yards, 2-for-11 on third downs,” Freeze stated. “To be able to tell you all of that and know what the outcome is is just frustrating,” the speaker said.
It was inevitable for the quarterback to have one or two, but I’m relieved it arrived early. After that, I felt that our rush lanes were reasonably well-contained. The plays that really damaged us later in the games were the huge, explosive ones there. Aside than that, I think our defense performed admirably.
The success Auburn’s defense has seen due to the emergence of young players is a remarkable factor. With six tackles and a sack, rookie Demarcus Riddick led the club in tackling.
“I felt Jay Crawford and Marcus Riddick both played well,” Freeze remarked. “Malik Blocton, along with all the receivers, is playing a lot of snaps.” Playing a lot of young children, for sure, and being happy to see them begin to achieve some success. It’s encouraging to see T (Terrance) Love enter the game and do well. playing a large number of sophomores and freshmen. Seeing and experiencing those things in the game is beneficial.
Auburn has three straight road games, two of which are against teams ranked in the top ten, therefore the team’s defensive performance will be even more crucial.
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