Carnell Williams is 'pretty doggone confident' in Auburn's defense, preparing for Western Kentucky
AUBURN — Interim head coach Carnell Williams has made it clear that one of his main goals it to return back to “old Auburn football.”
That goes for both sides of the ball and the defense has clearly listened.
Although the defense hasn’t been performing as well as normal during the beginning of the season, they have improved tremendously in just the past two games under Williams.
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“In the SEC, I know they’ve been struggling, but that’s total team effort defensively as far as guys buying in, serving, winning the pre-snap, studying their keys,” Williams said. “That was excellent to see.”
In the past two games, the Tigers have held their opponents to just over 100 rushing yards.
“We definitely are getting better every day,” defensive lineman Marquis Burks said on Monday afternoon. “Everyday is a work day for us… We really maintain our fundamentals and honestly I’ve seen the D-line play elevate in the last few weeks.”
Although Mississippi State scored 39 points in their game, the defense allowed Auburn to have a 22-0 run and stopped what would’ve been a blowout. Derick Hall and Jeffrey M’Ba each forced a fumble that changed the direction of the game.
This past weekend, the defense continued to improve, going 57 minutes without allowing Texas A&M to score a touchdown. Overall, the Aggies only had 94 rushing yards against the Tigers’ defense.
This wasn’t enough for them, though. Many defensive players were frustrated that they even let Texas A&M score at all.
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“We really didn’t like that,” Burks said. “We’ve got high standards and we really let ourselves down with that. We’re definitely going to put emphasis on that next time.”
Auburn’s last home game is this Saturday against Western Kentucky. Nationally, the Hilltoppers offense is ranked 12th overall in points per game (37.9) and 8th overall in yards per play (6.8). Auburn’s defense will be put to the test this weekend. They will have to limit the amount of scoring from Western Kentucky to allow Auburn’s offense to attempt to put more points on the board.
The Tigers’ defense has their interim head coach’s full support heading into the rest of the season, though.
“Playing the game of football is about confidence,” Williams said. “We should be more prepared and know what to expect. It doesn’t guarantee nothing, but those guys should be confident, and I’m pretty doggone confident in those guys.”
