Defense excels in first scrimmage

AUBURN | The old cliché of the defense always being ahead of the offense at the start of spring practice certainly held true Saturday.

Auburn’s defense forced five turnovers and held the offense in check for the better part of a 100-play scrimmage at Jordan-Hare Stadium, the Tigers’ first scrimmage of spring and seventh overall practice.

“The defense really stood out to me today, they won the line of scrimmage,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “I think they forced five turnovers, which is good from a defensive standpoint. Offensively, they’ve got to do a better job of protecting the football.”

The defense tallied four interceptions and one fumble recovery. It was a big day for junior safety Daniel Thomas, who had two of the interceptions and delivered several big hits.

“Daniel’s a guy that he’s got a lot of experience,” Malzahn said. “He is starting to turn into a veteran, and you kind of just sense it out there when you’re going 11-on-11. So the expectations are very high for him.”

Freshman safety Smoke Monday also had an interception and junior safety Jeremiah Dinson forced a fumble by running back Devan Barrett.

Freshman running back JaTarvious Whitlow had the biggest play on offense when he took a handoff, reversed field and took it to the house for approximately a 75-yard touchdown run.

“It was something like you see on Madden—where you just go one way and he reversed the other way,” offensive lineman Marquel Harrell said. “It was a good run. It brought some energy to the field.”

Freshman running back Asa Martin also had a couple of nice runs in a scrimmage that Malzahn described as 75-80 percent running plays and pretty basic.

“The offense didn’t get fancy. The defense didn’t get fancy. That was by design, too,” Malzahn said. “We just wanted to see who could block, who could tackle, who could take on blocks and who could protect the football and all that.”

Malik Willis threw three of the interceptions and Joey Gatewood the other. The quarterbacks were not live, which kept them from using their rushing ability to keep the defense honest.

Harrell said Willis kept his cool and didn’t show any frustration after throwing the interceptions.

“As a leader, Malik is steady growing. He’s doing good coming in as a quarterback,” Harrell said. “He realizes he’s with the ones and has an opportunity, but like everybody makes mistakes, so we’re not going to jump down his throat like ‘oh man, make better throws.’ Nah, because I feel like quarterback is the hardest position to play besides center, because those are the two most important guys on the field.

“It’s just time for him here to continue to grow and continue to get better, so like the interceptions and stuff, it’s natural. I’d rather it happen in practice and scrimmage than in a game.”

Redshirt freshman Austin Troxell got the start at right tackle as he competes with another redshirt freshman, Calvin Ashley, for the starting position.

Senior wide receiver Will Hastings injured his knee early in the scrimmage and didn’t return.