Auburn's defensive "twist"

[StatTiger 3,188]

Enough cannot be stated about the preparation by the Auburn coaching staff and players leading up to the BCS national championship game against the Oregon Ducks. The biggest challenge facing the Auburn defense would be the lightning-pace the Oregon Duck offense would operate. It was more about the speed of operation than the speed of the Oregon personnel. Not only was Auburn prepared for the aggressive pace by the Oregon offense, the Tigers actually confused the Duck offensive line by the Tigers alignments.

The play…

Oregon is faced with a 3rd & 3, electing to run their zone-read run option against the Tiger’s defense. Auburn counters with a “3-4” look, which has Nosa Eguae in a 2-point stance on one end and Craig Stevens on the opposite end. Auburn is actually coming with a 6-man run-blitz with Josh Bynes as the sixth man, coming up the middle. The Oregon tackles elect to engage Stevens and Eguae coming off the edge, leaving 3 to block 4 Auburn defenders in the middle.

Antoine Carter is left unblocked and he actually is able to the play the quarterback and running back on the same play. Nick Fairley is initially doubled but Bynes coming up the middle forces the guard to peel off Fairley to pick up the blitzing Bynes. Fairley beats the center up the middle arriving in time to help Carter finish off the "give" to the running back.

Same play…

Because Auburn was well prepared for the pace of the Oregon offense, it allowed Auburn to dictate what they wanted to accomplish on defense. Auburn would already be up at the line and would not set until the last few seconds, confusing the Oregon offensive line on their blocking assignments. The “3-4” look kept the Ducks guessing on who was actually coming, which often resulted in an Auburn defender being left unaccounted for.

The Ducks came into the game, averaging well over 300-yards rushing per game. The Auburn defense held the Ducks to just 75-yards on the ground, their lowest output over their last 24 games. Oregon averaged less than 3-yards per rush on first down, disrupting the rhythm of their offense, forcing the Ducks to become more reliant on their pass-offense. As explosive as Oregon was on offense, Auburn did what they did all year. The Tigers made it a priority to take away the running game and accomplished the task with an aggressive front-seven.

[Tigermike 3,651]

Thanks Stat :thumbsup:

[Justin5 20]

Makes me wonder the shelf life of the oregon offense.

[GaTigerFan 0]

Nice work Stat. You have done an excellent job (as always) keep us well informed. The Auburn defense really stepped up and took away the run just like they did most of the year. I'm hoping that performance carrys over next season and we'll see AU become a dominant D once again. I think we will.

[AUloggerhead 2,506]

Excellent as usual, Stat. I wonder if you would examine what AU was doing on defense in the 2nd half regarding defending the screen plays? I've not seen that before where a defense would drop off the interior DL in pass coverage & send the LBs to pressure the QB. Talk about confusing the OL ...

[GreenDrazi 24]

IIRC, Antoine Carter tackled both the QB (left arm) and the RB at the same time on the first play you break down!

Stat, thanks again for your insights before and after the games.

[Aeronaut 0]

It was an incredible effort by Auburn Defense. I think Roof silenced all his critics in the last 10 quarters of the season, going back to 2nd half of Iron Bowl.

[Tigerguy 1]

It was an incredible effort by Auburn Defense. I think Roof silenced all his critics in the last 10 quarters of the season, going back to 2nd half of Iron Bowl.

Very true. Coach R did a great job coaching the players that he had to work with and in designing schemes that gave us a chance to win. His work was overshadowed to a large extent by the offense, but he was responsible for a winning year just as the O was.

[StatTiger 3,188]

When you consider that 23 of the 46 defensive recruits signed from 2006-2008, saw less than 10 games on the field during their entire career, Roof has been working uphill the last 2 seasons. 19 of the 29 front-seven signed during 2006-2008, saw less than 10 games of the field during their career. That is a horrible attrition rate.

30.4% of the defensive players signed during 2006-2008, NEVER saw the playing field.

[AURaptor 1,137]

I like it when those lines w/ the arrows all meet at the circle around the ball carrier.