By Charles Goldberg/Auburn Bureau, The Birmingham News, Press-Register, and The Huntsville Times
Jeff Whitaker, right, makes the stop on LSU's Stevan Ridley (Birmingham News / Hal Yeager)
AUBURN -- Auburn defensive line coach Tracy Rocker got a look at the future in the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 4 and liked what he saw in his rookie defensive linemen so much that he's willing to send them against the nation's No. 1 scoring offense on the biggest stage of all.
In a game in which defenses figure to be chasing Auburn's Cam Newton and Oregon's LaMichael James, and fresh players may be the difference, Rocker is hoping his freshmen will be able to rotate in and slow Oregon in the BCS championship game on Jan. 10.
They rotated in during the SEC title game and helped Auburn to a win over South Carolina.
"We were fortunate enough in the SEC Championship Game that a lot of those guys got to play a whole lot," Rocker said. "That was a big game. So I feel going into the national championship game, it's no different: You've got to make special plays in a special game. And that's the selling point."
The first line of defense has changed little this season, other than redshirt freshman Nosa Eguae taking over as a starter in the fourth game. That's because Lombardi Award winner Nick Fairley, Antoine Carter and Zach Clayton have combined to start every other game, other than when Carter was given the day off for Chattanooga.
But Auburn has successfully worked in Jeff Whitaker, Corey Lemonier, Kenneth Carter and Craig Sanders, and sometimes quite early in games.
The defensive line has been solid on a team that does most anything to stop the run, so much so that Auburn is ranked 11th in the nation in rushing defense and 105th in passing defense. The line's solid play has allowed Auburn defensive coordinator Ted Roof to trust his linemen to apply pressure on quarterbacks without the need to take defensive backs out of coverage to blitz.
"I could spin statistics to make things look one way. Somebody else could spin them to look another way," Roof said. "This is a bottom-line business. The bottom line is that we have to do what we have to do to win football games."
Having Fairley making 21 tackles for a loss, including 10½ sacks, has made Roof's strategy work.
"We basically want to stop the run," Lemonier said.
Whitaker knows the assignment will be tough, starting with James.
"This man can go from zero to 100 just like that," Whitaker said with a snap of his fingers. "We respect their offense a lot."
Rocker uses Lemonier as an example of a rookie who gets it.
"When the first month of practice and then the second month of practice, the conversation was, 'Coach, I'm not making the plays I made in high school.' And I'm like, 'You're not in high school anymore. You're in college. It's a big difference,'" Rocker said. "For him, every week he's gained confidence and playing."
Auburn has used this extended practice session to put in the game plan for Oregon and to take an even longer look at the freshmen.
"Even though I know what we're playing for, in the back of my mind I know they are our team next year," Rocker said. "I've got to make sure they're at their best. They're going to have to go out here in this national championship and give it their best."
Auburn's defense may be at a statistical disadvantage against the Ducks, but Roof finds solace in the fact that opponents haven't done as well in the second half of games, and that's helped the Tigers to eight come-from-behind victories.
"Right now, we're a Southeastern Conference championship defense. We're working toward being a national championship defense," Roof said.
"There are a lot of things that go into statistics. The statistic that matters most is wins and losses for our football team. We know we have a responsibility to do what we have to do to help the football team win. That's the bottom line."
Source:
No comments:
Post a Comment