RHOADS: Auburn Defense Needs ‘To Be Fast Again’

Upon further review, Auburn’s defense had lost a step.

That was Paul Rhoads’ synopsis of Saturday’s sub-par performance against the Arkansas, who came to Auburn with one of the least intimidating offenses in the SEC and left with 416 yards and a 25-22 victory.

“We were not as fast Saturday night as we were for the first six games of the season,” the first-year defensive coordinator said Tuesday, marking the first time Rhoads, or any other Auburn assistant coach, had spoken formally with the media since Sept. 28.

“Oct. 23, we need to be fast again.”

Rhoads and Tommy Tuberville came to that verdict after their “self-scout” of the Tigers’ third loss of the season. Hampered by a number of lingering injuries and a lack of depth, Auburn — for really the first time all season — looked flat at times against the Razorbacks, resulting in a number of missed tackles and elongated drives.

So what’s the solution to getting the unit back up to speed?

Slow it down.

“The No. 1 thing we want to do is this week is mentally get back into it like it’s the start of a new season and, physically, get our legs back,”
Tuberville said. “You don’t want to lose that part. You have to get that drive back.”

Another seven days of idleness until Auburn’s non-conference, primetime showdown with West Virginia is what the coaches are banking on to cure their tired team. Tuberville gave the team Sunday and Monday off before running it through a light, one-hour workout Tuesday. The Tigers will also be off Friday and Saturday before resuming a normal practice schedule Sunday.

That rest should prove vital to cornerback Jerraud Powers (hamstring) and Antoine Carter (ankle), who both watched Saturday’s loss from the sidelines. Not to mention Antonio Coleman (pulled leg muscle), Sen’Derrick Marks (ankle), Craig Stevens (ankle), Tray Blackmon (wrist) and any other Auburn defensive players who has played through pain during the seven-games-in-seven-weeks stretch.

“Right now, we’re slowed up a little bit, just because we’ve been out there so much,” Stevens said. “But I think we’ll get right.“

Not much went right for the defense against Arkansas.

Forced to stay on the field for almost 30 of the first 45 minutes because of Auburn’s floundering offense, the unit’s productivity progressively grew worse as the game wore on. It gave up large chunks of yards early on, but was able to prevent many points with key stops, two
interceptions and a forced fumble.

But those stops and turnovers vanished late in the third quarter and midway through the fourth, as players such as linebacker Josh Bynes drifted into the 60’s and 70’s in snaps played.

In a span of nine game minutes, the Hogs struck with a trick-play touchdown pass to quarterback Casey Dick and a 63-yard run by Michael Smith, who juked his way out of a number of missed tackles and took advantage of bad angles of pursuit to put Arkansas up for good.

“We played terrible,” Marks said Saturday. “When you go out there and play like we did (Saturday), you get beat.”

Still, even after the poor showing, Auburn’s defense still stacks up with some of the best in the country.

It dropped nine spots in the national rankings, but is still 11th in the nation (third in the SEC) in points per game allowed (13.1) and 14th in total defense. The Tigers dropped just one spot from first in the nation to second in opponents’ third-down conversion percentage after allowing the
Hogs to convert eight of their 17 opportunities.

“You saw how we played early in the season,” Stevens said. “When we get everybody back all right, we’ll be all right.”

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