Oct. 23, 2016
By Jeff Shearer
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. - Intense practices during Auburn's bye week helped the Tigers' defense dismantle Arkansas in Auburn's 56-3 win Saturday.
"I think we played great. We played lights out. That bye week helped us," defensive lineman Jeff Holland said. "We stressed playing with effort. We practiced hard during our bye week and got better as a defense.
"Coach G (defensive line coach Rodney Garner) strained us. We asked Coach G to coach us hard, and I guess it paid off tonight. Every day in practice we do the "Tiger Drill," and we stress physicality."
Auburn held Arkansas to just 25 rushing yards, the fewest yards on the ground allowed by Auburn in a conference game in more than a decade.
"That lets us know that we were really focused since play one," said linebacker Tre' Williams, who led Auburn with seven tackles, including one of Auburn's 11 tackles for loss. "Arkansas is a really big running team, and we said, 'They're not going to run the ball on us.' And everybody took it personally. Went out there and did our job."
The Tigers did not allow a touchdown in an SEC game for the first time since 2011 against Florida.
Auburn's defensive line had four sacks, three in the first quarter as the Tigers took a 21-0 lead.
"It's all about the defensive line," linebacker Deshaun Davis said. "As a linebacker, they make our job easy."
The Auburn secondary also benefitted from the defensive line's stellar play.
"They made my job a lot easier. I'm really appreciative of them," said defensive back Carlton Davis. "We're glad to have them on our team."
Auburn's defense will look for an encore next week on the road against Ole Miss.
"It's huge for us," Davis said. "Getting this big win, and the way we got it. That's a good Ole Miss bunch. Their offense is really dynamic. They're going to be at home. They're going to be juiced. They're going to want to get an upset. We've just got to go and prepare like we did this week and come out even better.
"Our team's getting better and better every week," Davis said. "This is not the best game you're going to see Auburn play. It's the best game that we've played so far as a complete unit, no doubt. If somebody said the score was going to be 56-3, I probably would have just smiled a little bit. If we put our mind to it, we're capable of doing it. Our coaches put us in great position and our teammates really trust each other."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @jeff_shearer