Okay, I’m sure the Clemson football team is not doing that, but what about the fans?
Last year, Auburn’s defense ranked at or near the bottom of the SEC in total yards allowed, rushing yards, passing yards, third down defense and sacks. It wasn’t a very good year down on the Plains as the Tigers struggled to a 7-6 record.
When Will Muschamp left Auburn to become the new head coach at South Carolina, Kevin Steele moved over from LSU to coordinate the defense and coach the linebackers. However, hearing Steele’s name as a DC does not strike fear into the heart of Clemson fans.
After all, the last time they saw him on the sidelines of game involving their Tigers, he gave up 70 points to West Virginia in the 2012 Orange – the most points allowed by one team in any bowl game in history. Steele and head coach Dabo Swinney mutually agreed to part ways a few weeks later.
So here we are. In less than two weeks, it will be Clemson’s offense, which can be both physical and finesse, against Steele’s new defense a unit that has a solid defensive front led by defensive end Carl Lawson, but there are questions at linebacker and in the secondary.
However, graduate transfer T.J. Neal, who came to Auburn from Illinois, says the sky is the limit for his defense. Could we all be missing something?
“You know, it’ll be a top five defense,” said Neal in an article written on AL.com. “We can have fun. We are just still working and still making progress to be the best defense we can be.”
Steele, according to the story, has never coached a top 10 defense, much less a top five one. But his boss, head coach Gus Malzahn, says the goal this year is to be a top 10 defense and he feels he has the pieces in place to be one.
Malzahn says his defensive front is one of the best defensive fronts in the county, and says it is at least 10 deep with its personnel. However, Auburn has not been ranked in the top 10 nationally in scoring or total defense since 2007.
“I think they’ve got us on a high pedestal, but that comes with the territory,” senior defensive tackle Montravius Adams said to AL.com. “We’ve got a lot of guys who are experienced and everybody thinks we’ve got great athletes on the d-line, they think we’re fast, they think we’re smarter, that we can do it all.”
Last year Auburn ranked 54th nationally in scoring defense and 71st in total defense. Maybe that is why Clemson fans are underestimating Auburn’s defense? Maybe that’s not a good idea?
Or maybe they just have confidence in an offense that returns eight starters, plus wide receiver Mike Williams, from a unit that ranked 11th nationally in total offense and 16th in scoring? Maybe it’s because they saw their Tigers put up 550 yards and 40 points against an Alabama defense that ranked third in the country last year in total defense and tied for second in scoring defense?
Maybe it’s because Clemson has Deshaun Watson playing quarterback? Or maybe it’s because Watson’s playing quarterback and Steele is Auburn’s defensive coordinator? Clemson fans know firsthand the kinds of issues Steele has at stopping mobile quarterbacks.
–Photo courtesy AuburnTigers.com