Auburn held its first football scrimmage of the fall in Jordan-Hare Stadium on Monday morning, Aug. 10.
Coach Gus Malzahn said the scrimmage consisted of 90 plays, and the defense "completely dominated."
"There were no touchdowns for the offense," Malzahn said. "I believe the offense kicked two field goals and the defense had three turnovers, so they flat got after the offense."
Quarterback Jeremy Johnson agreed, and said the defense got the best of the offense.
"They held us from scoring," Johnson said. "They just were making plays, flying around, lot of excitement. They just beat us today."
Senior wide receiver Ricardo Louis said the energy brought by the defense was impressive.
"[The defense] brought the energy today, they brought an intensity," Louis said. "The offense is going to have to pick it up next time we get out there. This is probably the best defense I've seen so far since I've been here."
Malzahn said the defense's performance confirmed his belief in new coordinator Will Muschamp.
"We hadn't had any scrimmage since I've been the head coach that we've had a dominant defensive performance like that in a scrimmage, so that's very exciting," Malzahn said.
Cornerback Jonathan Jones said the defense's physicality was different from previous years.
"Energy levels were higher," Jones said. "We were physical, something (Muschamp) wanted us to be. I think we met his expectations today, being physical. We still have to improve a lot as far as X's and O's, but for a first scrimmage, you can't beat how physical we were."
Malzahn said he was encouraged by the freshmen getting their first live action of fall camp.
"[The scrimmage] really confirmed that we do have a bunch of young guys that are going to have a chance to help us," Malzahn said. "We had some young guys that were really flying around and trying to do what they were coached to do and made some plays also."
The Tigers' will practice Tuesday, Aug. 11, Wednesday, Aug.12, and Thursday, Aug. 13, before their next scrimmage Saturday, Aug. 15.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
