AUBURN | Roger McCreary calls it a top-down defense. Owen Pappoe says it’s linebacker friendly. Colby Wooden says it showcases his versatility.

From the defensive backs to the linebackers to the defensive line, the excitement for Derek Mason’s defense is universal among Auburn’s players.

“Man, he brings energy,” said senior safety Smoke Monday. “He brings that intensity into the room where like, he sets the standard. And when you've got a coach like that, it's easy to follow because, I mean, he's never going to let you slouch. He's never going to let you just downplay yourself.

“He's going to teach you the right way to do it, and you've just got to go out and get it. He's going to be there every step of the way."

When it comes to a top-down approach, McCreary explains that’s due to playing more off-man, zone coverage as opposed to a lot of press-man under the previous staff.

“With the off-man, it's all about with the eyes and feet and all of that stuff and recognizing, like, what's going on with the offense,” McCreary explained. “Playing off-man, we won't get beat deep. It's about being more patient when the receiver gets into your cushion, when to open up and all of that stuff or when it's about to come down. It's all about field awareness.”

Mason considers his linebackers one of the most talented and deepest position groups on his side of the ball and is making sure he puts Pappoe, Zakoby McClain, Chandler Wooten and rest in position to make plays.

“What we’re going to try to do is find the 1-on-1 matchups,” Mason said. “We’re going to let them run and hit when they want, when they need to run and hit, but we’re also going to make sure they have the chance to rush the passer.”

Pappoe is excited about the opportunity to build on the 6.0 tackles-for-loss and 4.0 sacks he had last season.

“There’s a lot of opportunities for us to make plays in space, make plays in the box, third-and-short, run up the A-gap and try to thump something,” Pappoe said.

Up front, Mason plans to take advantage of a large group of versatile defensive linemen like Wooden, who can play inside at defensive tackle or outside at defensive end.

“We’re going to be in a three-down front, four-down front and five-down front. All of it has got to be physical,” Mason said. “What you talk about is re-establishing the line of scrimmage because it’s a line of scrimmage game. In this conference if you can’t re-establish the line of scrimmage you’ve got no chance.”

Auburn will hold its second full scrimmage of fall camp Friday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium.