NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Thanks to a 34-day break between games, Auburn's defense enters Friday's Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl close to full-strength.
"Everybody's healthy, with the exception of Nick Coe, so that's a plus, particularly after going through the season," Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele said. "It is the healthiest we've been. All the guys are healthy, and you can tell it in practice. Obviously, Nick is missing, but Big Kat and T.D. have done very well in practice sessions."
Auburn invested a large chunk of its defensive preparation on one of the bowl's smallest players, 5-foot-9, 175-pound freshman Rondale Moore, who recorded 1,164 yards and 12 touchdowns on 103 receptions.
"Football player," Steele said. "Makes plays. Obviously, when you're in the SEC you face talented players week in and week out. You take notice of how are we going to match up here and how we're going to match up there. The first thing you see when you turn it on is he presents issues in terms of making sure you're in the right place the right way."
At Thursday's press conference, Steele complimented Purdue coach Jeff Brohm's ability to make in-game adjustments and attack defensive vulnerabilities.
"When you coach against somebody and they make adjustments at halftime, that's an issue," Steele said. "Every now and then, if you're lucky, you coach against somebody who makes adjustments on Sunday when they watch the game. 'We should have done this, we should have done that.' The guy we're going against tomorrow, he'll get you the next play.
"He will find when you're trying to take things away, and know what's exposed when you call that and attack you there. You can't sit there and relax, he'll throw a curve ball. He's going to attack you.
"They've got everything in the kitchen sink so we may see it. Obviously, football is a matchup game. When you're going against four wide receivers and five wide receivers sometimes, you probably don't want to have a linebacker covering that guy."
That's where Auburn could benefit from its defensive backfield depth.
"When you've got numbers in the secondary that have played, and a pretty good set of numbers, it allows us to at least have an opportunity to match up," Steele said.
Auburn (7-5) and Purdue (6-6) will meet for the first time in Nissan Stadium Friday at 12:30 p.m. CT on ESPN, the sixth straight bowl appearance for the Tigers and 43rd overall.
In Auburn's previous Music City Bowl appearance, the Tigers beat Wisconsin 28-14 in 2003.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer