'We won up front': Auburn defense negates Texas A&M run game

'We won up front': Auburn defense negates Texas A&M run game'We won up front': Auburn defense negates Texas A&M run game

Derrick Brown led Auburn with two sacks and three tackles for loss

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Walking off Kyle Field toward Auburn's victorious locker room, Derrick Brown paused to high-five defensive coordinator Kevin Steele after the Tigers' 28-20 win Saturday.

Brown had spent the previous three hours harassing Texas A&M's offense, beginning on the Aggies' first play when he tackled running back Jacob Kibodi for a 5-yard loss.

"Definitely a fun one," said Brown, who stuffed the stat sheet with four tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble. "It was very excited. Just trying to give my all."

Auburn held the Aggies to 56 rushing yards on 21 carries, an average of 2.7 yards per carry. In the second half, Texas A&M essentially abandoned any effort to establish a running game, in part because it was trying to overcome a double-digit deficit, but also because earlier attempts had proven to be futile.

 "Our defense stopped the run," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "That was an impressive effort by our defense."

 "That was very important," Brown said. "Now, you're doing what you want to do. You've got to get off the field and make sacks. We just played our brand of defense. For that one defense to work, we have to be able to all hold our gaps and do our job."

Brown was omnipresent, powering through a double team to sack Kellen Mond late in the first half, then sacking Mond again in the second half, forcing a fumble that the Aggies recovered.

"He gets push in the middle," Malzahn said. "Any time you can get push in the middle, from a quarterback standpoint, it changes things."

On the next play after Brown's second sack, Tyrone Truesdell sacked Mond, one of Auburn's three sacks and seven tackles for loss.

Daniel Thomas forced the game's only turnover, causing and recovering a fumble on the opening play of the second half. Auburn scored six plays later to take a 21-3 lead.

"It gave us some breathing room and took the crowd out of it," Malzahn said.

"I was able to punch the ball out and recover," Thomas said. "That was a big momentum shift for our team coming out of halftime. Coach Steele has been pushing turnovers all week."

Noah Igbinoghene led Auburn with eight tackles, all solos. K.J. Britt added seven, including a tackle for loss.

As Britt began his postgame media session, he shouted, "I love you, Derrick" across the room to Brown, who returned with a vengeance after leaving last week's game against Kent State after the opening series.

"I think we won up front," Britt said. "Our mentality when we came out was fast, physical and just play with effort. We're going to have to continue to do it."

Auburn's next opportunity will be Saturday at 6 p.m. when Mississippi State comes to Jordan-Hare Stadium.

 "I definitely feel like we try to set the tone for the defense," Brown said of Auburn's D-line. "Playing in the SEC West, everything happens up front, it starts up front. In the SEC, you're going to line down and run the ball. That's how it works.

"We'll all sell out for our brothers. We're going to do everything we can to make sure everybody on our defense, everybody on our team, is taken care of."

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer