What Auburn's Defense Must Do to Become Elite
Auburn's defense hasn't finished in the top half of the SEC in total defense since 2007.
Think about that for a second—a program that was once synonymous with stout defenses hasn't even produced an adequate defense since Tommy Tuberville's penultimate season as head coach.
Since then, Auburn has played for two national championships, won one of them and let go of two head coaches. The man who coordinated that defense—Will Muschamp—has gone from hotshot assistant to sure-fire head coaching star to punchline and back to where it all began.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Muschamp returned to the Plains as Auburn's defensive coordinator in December after a failed four-year stint as Florida's head coach and will look to revitalize a defense that is high on upside but short on proven success.
What constitutes being an elite defense varies from school to school, and considering the power of Auburn's offense, the defense doesn't have to be one of the best in the country from a statistical standpoint.
Since time of possession isn't a focal point, the defense is going to be on the field more, which skews the total defense standpoint quite a bit. Yards per play is a much better indicator of defensive success in this day and age of uptempo offenses.
What must Muschamp do to make this defense elite?
Fixing The Secondary Starts Up Front
The secondary wasn't Auburn's biggest problem on defense last year. It was the absence of any semblance of a consistent pass rush.
In each of Auburn's two most recent runs to the title game, it finished third in the SEC in sacks. In 2013, it was Dee Ford (10.5 sacks) doing most of the damage off the edge. In 2010, it was Nick Fairley (11.5 sacks) wreaking havoc inside to help get the Tigers to the promised land.
That was supposed to be Carl Lawson's job last season, but an offseason ACL tear sidelined the sophomore before the season began.
Auburn couldn't find an answer. Despite trying everything—including moving linebacker/safety Brandon King down to rush end in passing situations in the middle of the season—nothing worked. The Tigers finished 11th in the SEC with just 21 sacks, as opposing quarterbacks routinely had time in the pocket to pick the secondary apart.
If I gave you 13 guesses to pick which team tied Ole Miss for the conference lead in interceptions, how many would you need to land on Auburn?
All of them?
That's exactly what the Tigers did. They picked off 22 passes in 2014 despite finishing as the third-worst defense in the SEC (230.1 yards per game), which acted as the constant thorn in the side of head coach Gus Malzahn.
Many of the players from that defense, including cornerback Jonathan Jones and safety Johnathan Ford, will be back this season.
With Lawson back, Montravius Adams in the middle, three of its four starters returning and Muschamp—who's consistently produced monsters up front like Dante Fowler and Dominique Easley—now in the fold, Auburn's front seven is ready-made for an immediate turnaround.
"I think the front seven is very strong," Muschamp said in his introductory press conference in December. "Just looking at some of the guys up front, I recruited a bunch of them. I'm looking forward to coaching some of them that turned me down."
If he can coach them up in a hurry this offseason, his defense will be able to hit the ground running when toe meets leather in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game vs. Louisville on Sept. 5.
Tackling Is Fundamental
Watching Auburn's defense try to tackle players in open space last year was like watching a cat trying to swat a fly.
They'd be successful every now and then, but more times than not, they'd whiff, end up flat on their faces and everybody not wearing orange and blue would wind up rolling on the floor laughing at the remarkable absence of fundamentals.
Former Bleacher Report Auburn lead writer Justin Ferguson, who's now with Sporting News, asked linebacker Kris Frost about those missed tackles in mid-November
"Really, I think tackling in our case is just playing with each other and knowing where your leverage is coming from," Frost told Ferguson. "You don't have to be the one to make the play all the time. You're playing with 10 other guys on the field. Basically, that's what we have to get back to—getting back to the basics, driving our feet and wrapping up."
That has to change, and Muschamp made that a point during bowl practice when he began observing the Tigers as they prepped for the Outback Bowl against Wisconsin.
"You can see it each and every day that we go out there in how much intensity he puts in each and every single drill and how much focus he puts into the little things," Frost told reporters. "He's made sure that we do the little things right all the time. That's really the most important thing that he's showing us lately."
That better continue in the offseason because Frost, along with a stout front four, linebacker Cassanova McKinzy and many other contributors, will be back in 2015. If they aren't better in space, big plays against will again haunt the Tigers.
Auburn finished last in the SEC in plays allowed of 20-plus yards (68).
With a little more work on the fundamentals this offseason, that number will be cut down tremendously and take some pressure off Auburn's offense, which couldn't afford to take a quarter off last season without watching the game slip away.
Win National Signing Day
To say that this is a big weekend in Auburn is quite an understatement.
It's huge.
It's the biggest weekend in Auburn recruiting in years.
According to Wesley Sinor of AL.com, three of the top five uncommitted defensive prospects in the 2015 class—5-star defensive end Byron Cowart (No. 3 overall), 5-star defensive end CeCe Jefferson (No. 7 overall) and 5-star defensive tackle Terry Beckner, Jr. (No. 16 overall)—will be in Auburn this weekend on official visits.
Those are just the headliners.
Uncommitted 4-star linebacker Jeffery Holland (No. 94 overall) and 4-star athlete/cornerback Tim Irvin (No. 277 overall)—who's currently committed to Texas—will also be on the Plains.
Several blue-chip offensive prospects will be there as well.
Many of those top players are from Florida—including Cowart, Jefferson and Holland. They are familiar with Muschamp and new defensive backs coach Travaris Robinson from their time with the Gators, which has created an interesting recruiting rivalry down the stretch.
Florida sits way down in the 247Sports team rankings at No. 81 behind South Florida and Florida Atlantic, and if it doesn't make a big jump between now and national signing day, it will likely be Auburn's gain.
Muschamp is putting the full-court press on the top uncommitted defensive prospects in the country and created a nice little Florida vs. Auburn recruiting rivalry in the process.
If Auburn can land some of those top-tier defensive prospects, they'll have the chance to contribute right away to a defense that will have a clean slate under the new defensive staff.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a co-host of the CFB Hangover on Bleacher Report Radio (Sundays, 9-11 a.m. ET) on Sirius 93, XM 208.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of cfbstats.com, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
