Auburn Tigers Sack Masters at Defensive End

The easiest way to stop a college football offense is to put the opposing quarterback on the ground repetitively. The more a team puts him on the ground, the less efficient he will be at distributing the ball to play makers.

When running most variations of the 4-3 defense the sack masters on the field are the defensive ends. Auburn had 28 quarterback sacks in 2009, with the bulk being made by defensive ends. While 28 is not a bad total, Pittsburgh led the nation last year with 47.

Often the sack will end an offensive series for the opponent.

The goal is to improve on this total in 2010.

The Auburn Tigers 2010 Sack Masters in no particular order.

Position	Player Profile	Class, Experience	Player Statistics
Defensive End WS Likely Starter	Antoine Carter 6'4" 256 lbs.	Senior, Played in 33 games	35 solo tackles, 12 solo tackles for a loss, 4 solo sacks, 18 quarterback hurries
Defensive End	Dee Ford 6'4" 240 lbs.	Sophomore,   Played in 13 games	1 interception, 6 solo tackles, 2 solo tackles for a loss, 7 quarterback hurries
Defensive End	Corey Lemonier 6'5 235 lbs.	Freshman	No Experience
Defensive End	Justin Delanie 6'5" 233 lbs.	Freshman	No Experience
Defensive End SS Likely Starter	Michael Goggins 6'3" 261 lbs.	Senior, Played in 38 games	38 solo tackles, 8 solo tackles for a loss, 11 quarterback hurries
Defensive End	Joel Bonomolo 6'3" 241 lbs.	Junior, JUCO Transfer	No Experience
Defensive End	Nosa Eguae 6'2 258 lbs.	Red Shirt Freshman	No Experience
Defensive End	Craig Sanders 6'4" 248 lbs.	Freshman	No Experience

It will be fun to watch and see where Defensive Line Coach Tracy Rocker lines this group up for the season. There is ample experience in this deep unit. The talent level is superior.

There was no depth at this position in 2009. This caused the play at this position to taper off in the third and fourth quarters. In 2010 the key will be using the depth at hand to keep the playing rotation fresh.

True freshmen usually start having problems with injuries if the number of plays they spend on the field goes higher than the 10-15 range. There are exceptions to this, but it is a good rule of thumb.

Redshirt freshmen and JUCO transfers fare much better on average. For the average starter at defensive end, the performance goes down with each play over 40 that they spend on the field.

With the depth available, Auburn should to be able to keep the defensive end rotation fresh and playing at peak performance for all four quarters. This should lead to a higher sack count in 2010 as teams try to pass the ball and catch up with the high-powered Auburn offense.