Overlooked Auburn defense too difficult to ignore

By Bob Holt (Contact)

AUBURN, Ala. — When Auburn Coach Tommy Tuberville was asked about Paul Rhoads on Tuesday during his weekly news conference, he jokingly pretended not to recognize the name.

“Who?” Tuberville said. “That’s the first time I’ve heard Paul Rhoads’ name in here in weeks.”

Rhoads is the Tigers’ defensive coordinator, a fairly anonymous position this season considering all the attention focused on Auburn’s offensive woes.

That focus got more intense Wednesday when Tuberville fired Tony Franklin from his position as the Tigers’ offensive coordinator.

“[The defense] definitely has been overlooked, overshadowed by our lack of consistency on offense,” Tuberville said. “They’ve played hard, they’ve played consistent.

They’veprobably played [defense] as good as we’ve had since I’ve been here.”

That’s saying something considering Tuberville is in his 10th season as Auburn’s coach and has an 84-35 record.

“The numbers tell you how good they are on defense,” saidTennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer, whose Volunteers lost at Auburn 14-12 earlier this season.

Going into today’s game against Arkansas, the Tigersare No. 1 nationally in opponent third-down conversions (18.7 percent); tied for No. 2 nationally in scoring defense (11.2 points); No. 7 in total defense (248.8 yards); No. 13 in pass defense (154.3 yards), and No. 14 in rushing defense (94.5 yards).

“I’m really proud of the defense and how they’ve withstood a lot of back-againstthe-wall situations in the first six games,” Tuberville said. “Defensively, we knew we were going to have a good team.

“It’s a little easier to play defense, especially when you’ve got some players like we do thathave been in a lot of SEC games and been successful.”

The Tigers’ defense is led by tackle Sen’Derrick Marks (8 tackles for losses totaling 27 yards), end Antonio Coleman (4sacks), free safety Zac Etheridge (31 tackles, 1 interception) and linebacker Tray Blackmon (20 tackles).

“As you watch the film on them, you don’t see their linebackers blitzing, because their front fourand the guys who rotate with them are incredibly good,” Arkansas tailback Michael Smith said. “They get penetration on almost every play just rushing four.

“So we know that we’re going to have to strap up and contain their defensive line so we can get to the secondary. That’s going to be a tough task, and it’s going tobe a grind all day.”

Speed keeps coming up when an opposing coach or player is asked about Auburn’s defense.

“Their speed always stands out,” said Mississippi State Coach Sylvester Croom, whose Bulldogs lost 3-2 to Auburn. “There’s no drop-off from last year. I’m glad we’ve got them behind us.”

Tuberville hired Rhoads from the University of Pittsburgh to replace Will Muschamp, who left Auburn after last season to become Texas’ defensive coordinator.

Rhoads had been Pittsburgh’s defensive coordinator since 2000 and survived a coaching change when Dave Wannstedt replaced Walt Harris.

“Paul has come in and been a solid guy,” Tuberville said. “He’s kept pretty much the base things we were doing, but changed some techniques.

“I gave him the ability to look at what we were doing throughthe spring and make those changes in the off-season.”

Auburn’s defensive performance remains unchanged.

“They’re fast and fly to the ball and really have some big guys up front we’re going to have to stop,” Arkansas center Jonathan Luigs said. “In all the games I’ve watched, their defense has kept them it in, and I’m sure they’ll try to do the same thing against us.”

Sports, Pages 29 on 10/11/2008