AUBURN, Ala. – The season-long competition between Auburn defensive linemen Derrick Brown and Marlon Davidson is tied once again after Brown earned SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week honors Monday for the third time.
Against Ole Miss, Brown tied Daniel Thomas with a team-high seven tackles, including an open field tackle for loss that exhilarated the sold-out crowd. When Big Kat Bryant had to leave the field with a helmet issue, Brown raced in from the sideline to give the Tigers four defensive linemen.
"When I was running on the field, the DBs did a great job and he just so happened to throw the check down," said Brown, who quickly flattened Ole Miss running back Jerrion Ealy for a 4-yard loss. "I happened to see it coming at me, so I just tried to go make a play on the ball."
Brown, who also earned the SEC's defensive line award against Texas A&M and Florida, says he has no interest in becoming a regular part of Auburn's pass coverage.
"That was really stressful, that open field tackle thing," he said. "I like to chase them down and hit them from the side when they're looking at DBs."
After an open date, No. 12 Auburn (7-2, 4-2) hosts No. 6 Georgia (7-1, 4-1) at 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 16 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry.
"I think we're a hungry team," Brown said. "Got the bye week to go in and recover, get everybody back and healthy, that's the biggest thing, and then we'll get ready to face UGA in two weeks."
Brown's recognition continues Auburn's streak of winning SEC awards after each game this season. Davidson won the D-line award after the Tulane, Kent State and Arkansas games.
Oct. 28: D.J. Williams (Freshman of the Week)
Oct. 21: Marlon Davidson (Defensive Lineman of the Week)
Oct. 7: Derrick Brown (Defensive Lineman of the Week)
Sept. 30: Bo Nix (Freshman of the Week), Mike Horton (Offensive Lineman of the Week)
Sept. 23: Derrick Brown (Defensive Lineman of the Week)
Sept. 16: Marlon Davidson (Defensive Lineman of the Week)
Sept. 9: Marlon Davidson (Defensive Lineman of the Week)
Sept. 2: Jeremiah Dinson (Defensive Player of the Week), Bo Nix (Freshman of the Week)
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
DB: Derrick Brown, or Defensive Back?
— Jeff Shearer (@jeff_shearer) November 4, 2019
Did you see Derrick hustle in just as an Ole Miss RB caught a pass?
DB says that "open field tackle thing is real stressful"@DerrickBrownAU5 has reached 2010 @CameronNewton status, where each week he does something we've never seen before pic.twitter.com/6516ntribI
"I think we're a hungry team."
— Jeff Shearer (@jeff_shearer) November 3, 2019
🗣@DerrickBrownAU5
Derrick & @gamechanger021 led @AuburnFootball with seven tackles each in 20-14 win vs. Ole Miss. pic.twitter.com/jMKylP0MYQ