The new-look Auburn defense held off the offense just long enough to never trail and clinch a spot in the coveted steak dinner in head coach Hugh Freeze’s new A-Day format with a 24-24 tie.
“I thought it was a solid day with some good things and some not so good things, of course," Freeze said. "But overall, I think our first spring, the 15 days that our kids gave us, was a great energy and effort and I think we took the right step toward building some foundational things that we're going to have to lean on in order to compete next year in this league.”
Entering the game, the coaching staff agreed to give the defense 24 points, and the offense had three 10-minute quarters to try to score on the defense in different game-like situations. With constant rain and wind conditions, the offense was even more limited in its play-calling abilities, but the offense’s rush attack was enough to tie up the defense as time expired.
“Yeah, I mean, no matter what the climate is there's no excuse for that many rushing yards and that's also on me too," said defensive lineman Jayson Jones. “So obviously, we got to go back and it's all fitting gaps and I bounced out of gaps. You know, stuff like that would also play a part in it. So we’ve got to keep pushing, but again, the technique and everything like that is fundamentally different.”
The Tigers' running back room, which has been noted all spring long as possibly the strongest position group on the team, and the quarterbacks on a few designed runs made a key difference on the ground Saturday with a total of 280 yards on 51 attempts. Excluding T.J. Finley and Holden Geriner, every runner for the offense recorded 20 or more yards for the Tigers.
“I think after today what’s on my mind is we’ve got to stop the run. You can't win in this league if you can't stop the run. And we didn't stop it very well today on some drives,” Freeze said.
While most of the offensive play calling was run-based due to the weather, 51 runs to just 12 pass attempts, the Mark Dorminey Defensive MVP Award was handed to cornerback D.J. James, a second-team All-SEC member last season, with four total solo tackles on the day.
“You gotta love to play in the rain. It wasn't pretty, but for me I really don’t care about. It was pretty fun playing in the rain with my brothers,” said linebacker Robert Woodyard.
Defensive coordinator Ron Roberts’s defense will have all summer and fall camp to improve before the Freeze era officially gets underway with Auburn’s season opener against the UMass Minuteman on Saturday, Sept. 2 in Jordan-Hare Stadium. As for what the Tigers will do first following the end of spring practices, they’ll enjoy a steak dinner, no hot dogs.
“Oh, great. Forget that hot dog,” Jones said.
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Patrick is a junior from Auburn, Alabama, double majoring in journalism and marketing. He started with The Plainsman in the fall of 2022.
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