Auburn’s bye week was supposed to be a reset, and defensive coordinator DJ Durkin made it clear Monday that the Tigers spent a good chunk of it trying to clean up the same issue that has haunted them all season: the run defense.
That problem is staring them in the face again with No. 1 Georgia coming to town. The Bulldogs enter Saturday averaging 211.8 rushing yards per game, which means Auburn’s margin for error is basically gone if the gaps and fits aren’t right.
“Big thing for us was working on violent block defeat,” Durkin said. “I think that's a major deal at all three levels. It shows up at D-line, linebacker, DB.”
Durkin said Auburn went back to fundamentals during the week off, even revisiting drills the Tigers used in training camp. The bigger concern, though, was his explanation for why the explosive runs have been popping up against Auburn. In his view, the damage has often come from defenders being out of position or simply not executing their run responsibilities cleanly.
“We're playing good teams and good backs, you can't do that. You got to be sound every snap,” Durkin said.
That has been the recurring theme against the Tigers’ tougher opponents, including Florida and Tennessee, and Georgia has the kind of offense that can make those mistakes look even worse in a hurry.
Auburn is also dealing with a personnel issue at linebacker. With Xavier Atkins unavailable for this matchup, Durkin pointed to Bryce Deas and De’Marcus Riddick as the players who should see more of the action.
“I always feel like in that room all those guys are considered starters,” Durkin said.
Deas has already logged meaningful snaps this season, while Riddick is still working back from last year’s injury. Auburn will need both of them to hold up in a game where the Bulldogs can attack in a lot of different ways.
That brings the conversation to Georgia’s offense itself, which Durkin described as a headache because of the variety it can present. The Bulldogs can lean on the run, use different personnel groupings and put Gunner Stockton in situations where he knows exactly how to work the system.
“They have answers for things,” Durkin said.
For Auburn, that means the defensive fixes from the bye week will get a fast, brutal test.
In Other News...
Auburn Suddenly Has A Real Opening In Athens Saturday
Georgias injury report is giving Auburn a little extra life heading into Saturdays trip to Athens. The Bulldogs may be without safety KJ Bolden, while safety Tyriq Green and outside linebacker Darren Ikinnagbon have already been ruled out, and that comes on top of several offensive absences as well, including receiver Isiah Canion and multiple running backs. For an Auburn team trying to find any edge in a difficult road setting, the availability chart has suddenly become part of the conversation.
Auburn has its own issue to sort through, with linebacker Xavier Atkins unavailable because of suspension, but the overall picture still leaves the Tigers looking at a Georgia roster that is not at full strength. Those kinds of misses can matter in a game where margins are already thin, especially when a defense is shuffling pieces and an offense may have to adjust on the fly. For Auburn, the opening is there now, and the challenge is making sure it does not close quickly on Saturday. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn Fans Suddenly Have A Bigger Program Concern Than One Bad Week
Auburn has had plenty to sort through in a rough stretch, and the latest headline to land on campus has nothing to do with the basketball floor. Banana Ball announced Auburn as the site for its opening weekend, an eye-catching choice that immediately stirred up mixed reactions among fans trying to make sense of the schools latest news cycle.
All of it is arriving while the basketball program is already under a brighter spotlight after an exhibition loss to Florida State, with questions lingering about how the team is playing and where the coaching staff fits into the picture. And with Benko also in the mix in connection to Auburns business operations and NIL efforts, there is a lot more than one bad night pushing the conversation around the program right now. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Fans Have Every Right To Be Furious About Week 7
Week 7 is setting up as one of those Saturdays SEC fans circle on the calendar, only to realize they may spend most of it flipping between screens. Auburns trip to Georgia is in the same kickoff window as Alabama at Tennessee and Missouri at Ole Miss, creating a crowded slate of high-profile games that will all get going at once. For viewers, its the kind of scheduling jam that turns a big day into a constant compromise.
The loudest complaints have centered on Missouri at Ole Miss, which many around the league felt deserved a bigger national stage than the SEC Network. For Auburn fans, the overlap matters too, because their game at Georgia is part of the same traffic jam of attention, and there will be no easy way to keep up with everything else happening elsewhere in the conference. It is the sort of weekend that leaves fans arguing less about matchups and more about who decided they should all be watched at the same time. [Read more 🡒]