Is Auburn's Secondary Ready for the Major Challenges Ahead?

AUBURN, Ala. — Just two weeks ago, San Jose State’s Tyler Winston entered Jordan-Hare Stadium as one of the top receivers in the country.

It took just one half for the Tigers to clamp down on him.

"I thought [the defensive backs] responded well, that group had a big quarterback with a strong arm and a couple of receivers that could flat-out play," Malzahn said after the 59-13 victory. "We were a little worried about some of the screens, but I thought we did a solid job with that."

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Auburn's secondary aced the test with Winston by holding him to just three receiving yards in the second half as the entire defense kept a second straight opponent out of the end zone after halftime.

However, that's just one of many tests for the defensive backs, who will face several of college football's best receivers in 2014.

FBS Rank	Name	School	Yards per Game
5	Amari Cooper	Alabama	151.3
11	Travin Dural	LSU	123.3
43	Malcome Kennedy	Texas A&M	86.0
55	Nick Jones	South Carolina	81.3
60	Cody Core	Ole Miss	78.7
66	Vince Sanders	Ole Miss	75.0
79	Tyler Lockett	Kansas State	72.5

Are Auburn's defensive backs, who have been one of the team's weaker units over the last few years, ready for the challenges ahead?

Just ask senior cornerback Trovon Reed. In just two competitive games since moving from wide receiver in the offseason, Reed is showing major confidence in his and his teammates' abilities.

"We can go out there and show everybody that we can compete with the best," senior cornerback Trovon Reed said. "Put anybody out there. We're going to have to go against the best receivers in the country. We're ready."

They'll have to be ready in a hurry.

After a bye week, Auburn will face Kansas State and senior wide receiver Tyler Lockett, who finished 11th in the nation last season with 105.2 yards per game.

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Quick and agile with several dangerous moves in the open field, Lockett causes matchup problems all over the field for the Wildcats' opponents.

Lockett doesn't line up in a certain spot each play, so any one of the defensive backs could end up covering him Thursday night in Manhattan, Kan.

"You can't always matchup onto him with who you want, and you can't necessarily put a designed defense on him," defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson said. "You start double-covering him, that leaves all those quarterback lead runs open. That's what is such a big challenge with him. They're going to run the quarterback with the lead blocker, and when they do that, base defenses don't have enough people on that chalkboard to make the plays."

The 5'11", 190-pound Lockett presents a unique challenge for the Auburn secondary, who had a lot of experience in covering bigger receivers such as former Texas A&M star Mike Evans and former Missouri wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham.

While Winston, Alabama's Amari Cooper and Ole Miss' Cody Core—an Auburn native—are taller targets similar Evans and Green-Beckham, Lockett will challenge the Tigers defensive backs as a smaller, speedier threat.

As the team's top receiver and veteran quarterback Jake Waters' favorite target, Lockett runs a lot of quick routes where his physical gifts can be put on full display.

"If you're going to line up and play him one-on-one with nobody over the top, well, he's a really good athlete," Johnson said. "Their routes are designed to take advantage of that—a lot of stop-and-gos, lot of hitches, lot of fades—things you normally run against corners who don't have any help."

The Auburn secondary has definitely shown signs of improvement through the first two games of the season thanks to strong second-half performances. The unit has already recorded four interceptions, with senior leader Jermaine Whitehead grabbing one in each contest.

"He’s improved a whole lot," said sophomore safety Johnathan Ford, who had an interception against San Jose State. "I’ve learned a lot from him and his game. He’s improved a lot, so it’s great to play next to Jermaine."

Johnson said he has been impressed with his cornerbacks, the ones who will get the tough task of covering Lockett and several of the star receivers down the road for Auburn.

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Senior Jonathon Mincy has locked down a starting spot after missing the first drive of the season opener against Arkansas because of his summer drug arrest.

Junior Josh Holsey and Reed have shown some weaknesses in giving up a few big plays through the air, but they also have done well in the rotation by providing run support and stopping short screen passes.

"Mincy has probably played the best of all of them, and should as the most experienced," Johnson said. "Trovon had a couple of mistakes. For a player that hasn't played there much, that'd be expected...but I thought he made two really nice plays. He seems to get a little more comfortable each week."

The secondary's performance against a pass-heavier team in San Jose State and top target Winston was impressive, but the first major challenge will come against Kansas State and Lockett.

A great game against another great receiver could set the tone for the rest of the season and change the perception of the secondary, which has been the subject of criticism for several seasons running.

Reed says the defensive backs are ready to answer that challenge.

"We know they want to beat us as bad as we want to beat them," Reed said. "We can’t go out there and lay an egg. We’re coming in with a chip on our shoulder, and we’re just going to play Auburn football."

All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All recruiting rankings and information courtesy of 247Sports. All stats courtesy of CFBStats.com.

Justin Ferguson is Bleacher Report's lead Auburn writer. Follow him on Twitter @JFergusonAU.