What follows is a rough transcript of defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin's appearance on "Tiger Talk" Monday night. This is not meant to be a comprehensive transcript. We try to have fun with it.

• ANDY is Andy Burcham, the official Voice of The Auburn Tigers.

• NOT ANDY is Brad Law, who is not the Official Voice of the Auburn Tigers yet is terrific in his own right.

Opening statement: "I'm just proud of our guys in terms of the effort they played with and the togetherness they played with."

On what they did against the run against Vandy: "A lot of their runs stem from an option-type philosophy ... we were focused schematically on getting the ball out of (Diego Pavia's) hands."

On coaching so many freshmen: "There's learning curve -- just how important it is to execute and do your job and not freelance. They come from high school programs where they could go out there and run around and just play. I'm part of something bigger. I'm not playing 1 on 1 football; there's 11 of us out here."

Has he ever relied on this many freshmen? "Probably not. The good part is these guys aren't just playing -- they're playing well and at a high level. How much are we putting in scheme-wise? How much are we asking them to do? There's that fine line of what's too much and what's too little."

On his run defense lately: "Our guys are executing for us at a high level."

On the goal line stand at UK with six freshmen on the field: "It doesn't go through my mind. After the game you start thinking about it. We put guys on the field who give us the best chance to win the game at that spot."

On goals for this open week: "It's still about technique and fundamentals. We can focus on tackling, stance, all the little things that add up to helping you be successful."

On his leaders: "I feel like we have good leadership. It's spread out. Keldric Faulk ... is an unbelievable leader for us. He's leading in his play and also off the field. We also have guys like J-Mac and Eugene, who are seniors. It's an easy time for a senior when things aren't going the way you want them to go for your senior year and be in the tank about it. They're not. I think we have a good mix. A guy like Kaleb Harris? He's a leader for us. Our group has a substance to them. It matters and their teammates matter."

On looking ahead to the ULM game: "We break them down right away and start getting that gameplan put in. We're full speed ahead on them already."

On practice tempo now rather than in early September: "There's a difference ... in the amount of reps and all that. There has to be a speed -- this is how we practice. Maybe you limit reps for certain guys. Take a J-Mac or a Jerrin Thompson. They don't need the same reps a younger guy does. But if you change the practice speed? It's hard to get that back."

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