After a heartbreaking 41-38 loss on Nov. 8 to Texas A&M, the defense knows they have a lot of work to do and knows what they need to improve on heading into their last three regular season games.
According to defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson, the main areas that need to be fixed are limiting mistakes, creating a more effective pass rush, tackling better and simply communicating better in order to cancel out missed assignments and explosive plays.
Johnson said that his players' great drive and motivation to become a better defensive unit is definitely still there.
"Guys are playing with great effort," Johnson said. "I know it's important to them. They're trying hard and they're practicing hard. We are just making some mistakes sometimes that are uncharacteristic. Mistakes really put us in a hole."
Mistakes definitely put the Tigers in a hole against the Aggies, as Auburn tried their best to dig out of the 35-17 hole they created for themselves in the first half.
Johnson said that they are still searching for the answer to those mistakes that keep reoccurring.
"When we find the answer to [those mistakes], we have to coach better, play a little harder, coach smarter, something," Johnson said. "But we've got to eliminate those six or eight plays a game where we just don't make them earn it."
Some of those explosive plays are a result of defenders missing tackles. For example, Auburn missed 11 tackles after contact, which resulted in 114 yards of offense for the Aggies after missed tackles.
"If you eliminate half of that, it gets you off the field quicker, gets the offense the ball back quicker, helps field position and everything," Johnson said. "Players understand it. We harp on explosive plays. We have worked extremely hard to try to fix [tackling]. We've got to coach it better I guess."
Explosive plays can also be a result of miscommunication, which senior defensive back Jonathon Mincy said is the biggest problem when it comes to mistakes made in the secondary.
But Mincy and Johnson said that it helps that Jermaine Whitehead is back in the lineup at safety, since he has the most experience in the secondary, which already showed in his first game back when he had an interception against Texas A&M.
"It helps extremely well to have somebody back there who knows the checks and is able to communicate well with everyone else on the defense," Mincy said.
Other than Whitehead's experience playing a big factor in helping the communication on defense, Johnson said he also gives the defense more depth.
"(Whitehead) was a little rusty but we got him back and definitely wanted to get the opportunity to play him and get him back in the lineup," Johnson said. "I'm really proud of what he did over the last three or four weeks. He did everything that was asked of him. He helps us in a lot of ways."
Despite Auburn losing their second game of the season and getting knocked out of one of the four coveted College Football Playoff spots, Johnson said that the team is still hopeful and confident for the rest of the season.
"If there are any individuals that have gotten frustrated and lost confidence, I don't know of it," Johnson said. "We've just got to be more consistent."
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