AUBURN | In his first career start at Buck linebacker, Nick Coe showed he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with this season.

The third-year sophomore had one of the biggest plays of No. 9 Auburn’s 21-16 win over No. 6 Washington when he sacked quarterback Jake Browning on third-and-goal at AU’s 3-yard line and forced a fumble, which was recovered by Darrell Williams.

“Probably in my mind — everybody's got their own opinion — but in my mind, the biggest play of the game was the speed option in which Nick knocked the ball loose and they got no points out of that. That was huge,” Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele said.

Browning tried to run a quick sweep around the right side but Coe exploded into the backfield and knocked him backwards and the ball loose before he had a chance to pitch it.

“Nick's so long-armed, we kind of laughed about it in the meeting, he has the friction to tackle as the tackle blocks down,” Steele explained. “Then the quarterback's in his face, so he's got to block that. Well, Nick is one of the few guys that can friction the tackle with one hand, take the pitch man with the other hand and take the quarterback in the middle, which is pretty much the way it looked.”

According to Coe, he was hesitant to attack Browning on a similar play earlier in the drive but didn’t hold back once the Tigers were backed up on the goal line, especially with his position coach, Rodney Garner, in his ear.

"I looked at coach G and he was like, ‘Go after the ball, you got to make something happen.’ This was during the same series, so I was like, ‘I got to make something happen.’ Next time I see it I'm just going to go after the ball -- attack it immediately,” said Coe.

Coe finished with two tackles, two tackles-for-loss, one sack and his first career forced fumble. He dropped running back Myles Gaskin for a 3-yard loss on the Huskies final drive of the game. On the next play, Browning was sacked for a 3-yard loss by Big Kat Bryant and sacked again on 4th down by Smoke Monday.

“Nick was actually the most productive guy in terms of production points. He had the most production points,” Steele said. “Not by a long way, Darrell and Daniel (Thomas) were close to him. But those three were considerably higher than the fourth guy. But Nick was very productive.”

And Coe, who played in all 14 games last season with one start, is determined to keep making those game-changing plays each and every Saturday this season.

“I performed really well but I can get better,” Coe said. “There’s some cases where I’ve got to get quicker with stuff.”

Auburn returns to action Saturday against Alabama State at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.