Auburn’s defense made its mark on A-Day.
During the orange team’s 18-10 win over blue Saturday afternoon, Auburn’s first-string defense held the second-string offense to 138 yards. Nick Coe finished with a sack and a forced safety.
Coe, who says the defense had “dominated” the entirety of spring practices, said that the defense is starting to improve from last year.
“We need to just keep improving until we’re the best we can be,” he said.
Coe finished as the A-Day Defensive Player of the Game. Running back C.J. Tolbert finished as the Offensive Player of the Game while freshman kicker Anders Carlson finished as Specialty Player of the Game.
Tolbert, who played quarterback in high school, finished the game with a cumulative 137 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Carlson, who’s the younger brother of former Auburn kicker Daniel, hit all four of his field-goal attempts, including a long of 53 yards.
Knowing he is competing to earn playing time in a packed running back depth chart, Tolbert said that he thinks he is making a push to earn starting minutes.
“I feel like I’m in the position to do it, but I just need to work on my technique,” he said.
While keeping the running game alive with a 79-yard rush, Tolbert complemented himself to the conversation at quarterback. As Malik Willis assumed the first-string role in
Though Willis finished with 45 yards on 8-of-20 passing, Gatewood finished with negative total yards while completing four of 12 pass attempts for zero yards.
Malzahn said that he wasn’t worried about the statistical performances from Gatewood and Willis.
“I don’t overreact in a spring game setting,” he said. “We had a guy named Cam Newton who went 3-for-8 in a spring game, and people were concerned.
The crowd, which avoided earlier rain, watched as Auburn’s defense took control of the game. The offense, however, was without its starting quarterback and two of its main receivers.
Linebacker Darrell Williams, who finished with two tackles, said that the team was working with a defensive culture.
“We really have a defensive swagger about us,” he said. “There are guys flying at the ball and having fun.”
In addition to Coe’s forced safety, Auburn’s defense forced three fumbles.
Auburn’s notable absences featured Stidham, wide receivers Ryan Davis and Will Hastings and running back Kam Martin. Though Malzahn is comfortable with the situation at quarterback and wide receiver, the head coach still has questions for running back.
Davis was only held out for today, Malzahn added, and JaTarvious Whitlow put himself in the mix of running backs battling for play time.
Even with the season being less than five months away, Malzahn said that the spring football game allowed his team to have a taste of the real atmosphere of Jordan-Hare Stadium.
“There’s nothing better than
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.
