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A spirit that is not afraid

Auburn looks to remedy defensive struggles

Zakoby McClain (9) makes a tackle against Mississippi State on Nov. 13, 2021 in Auburn, AL.
Zakoby McClain (9) makes a tackle against Mississippi State on Nov. 13, 2021 in Auburn, AL.

With Auburn's defensive struggles against Mississippi State and quarterback Will Rogers, leaders Chandler Wooten and Roger McCreary look to improve the Tigers’ communication Saturday against South Carolina. 

Rogers totaled 415 passing yards of offense in the Bulldogs’ historic comeback win over Auburn, with 260 of that total coming in the second half of the game. McCreary and Wooten said the defense’s failure was in communication, not overall scheme. 

The senior linebacker Wooten opted out of the 2020 season, citing concerns for the pandemic, but also intended to spend more time with his newborn son Chance. Wooten has returned in 2021 as a leader for the Tigers’ defense with 71 total tackles on the year. 

“I think we’ve had success stopping teams in the red zone, especially prior to last week." Wooten said. "Tightening up down there in the red zone and then third-down defense as well, those are two areas we kind of emphasize in practice a lot. Obviously, we want to try to control the passing game a little better. The last couple games, we’ve kind of let the run game step away from us a little bit as well.”

The defensive struggles against the Mississippi State air raid came only in the second half, when it seemed to hit a brick wall, allowing Rogers to easily secure the comeback. 

“I think they just came out in the second half and just decided to do a couple different things from the first half,” Wooten said. “Everything we did worked in the first half. We just didn’t execute in the second half and that’s totally up to us as players to hold each other accountable.”

Senior cornerback McCreary is another leading man for the Auburn defense. McCreary has totaled 39 tackles and two interceptions for the 2021 season. He echoed Wooten’s thoughts on the defense’s first-half success. 

“I feel like in that second half, it was a lack of communication. The scheme was great and everything. It’s that we weren’t focused. We just got ahead of ourselves,” McCreary said. “This week, that’s what it’s all about, just communication and going on with the scheme.”

McCreary said that South Carolina’s new offensive coordinator has brought a new look to its approach, but the Auburn defense is breaking down a different piece each day to prepare their approach. He said there is no revenge plan from their loss last season, but instead they are entirely focused on this new team. 

“We’re going to always try to carry that confidence every week, even if we did bad one game. We try to carry that confidence every time and pick each other up,” McCreary said. “Each practice we try to work hard at the stuff we did bad the last game. That’s what’s going to happen this week: the focus of knowing the play before it happens.”

Head coach Bryan Harsin’s message to his team is to have a 1-0 mentality and the defense in particular has taken that message to heart. Particularly in difficult games, their approach is to take it as a teachable moment but move quickly on to the next challenge.

“We had a great practice [Tuesday] and looking forward to another great one today. I think it’s all about growing as a team and an individual,” Wooten said. “That’s life. Everything’s not always going to go your way but you’ve got to be able to move forward. I think that’s just important for us as a team.”


Callie Stanford | Sports Writer

Callie Stanford is from Springville, Alabama and is currently a sophomore at Auburn. She has been with The Plainsman since January 2021.

Twitter: @Stanford1Callie


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