With the unusual nature of the 2020 season with no non-conference games and only 10 SEC games, Auburn’s been forced to rely on some of the same guys all season long.

At linebacker, it’s been Zakoby McClain and Owen Pappoe leading the show for the Tigers, especially after K.J. Britt injured his thumb against Georgia.

Through nine games, McClain has a team-leading 94 tackles along with three sacks, while directly behind him is Pappoe who’s second on the team with 73 tackles, adding two sacks and an interception as well.

“Yeah, I think -- first of all, K.J. Britt, he's our team leader. He's one of the better players in the SEC. We lost him Game 2 or whatever, so that was a big blow,” Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn said. “Zakoby and Owen, they've really stepped up. Zakoby, he had 17 tackles, he had a sack, he had a couple TFLs, he had a caused fumble. And he was shedding blocks left and right. Owen's had a very solid year.”

While fans may remember the near-interception that McClain had which bounced through his hands and ended in a Texas A&M touchdown, McClain stuffed the stat sheet on Saturday.

“Well, he's got a nose for the football. He can take on blocks, he can run around blocks. He plays with tremendous effort,” Malzahn said. “Like I said, his instincts are what stand out to me. He hasn't been 100 percent all year, either. So for him to do what he did yesterday was just an unbelievable effort. Our two guys, I'd put them up against any two linebackers in the league right now.”

The linebacker duo has been the only linebackers in the rotation just a few other backups receiving snaps.

It’s something Malzahn hasn’t seen in a long time.

“It's been a while, there's no doubt,” Malzahn said on if he remembers two players getting this many snaps. “Both of those guys have been warriors and really gutted it out and played very solid football.”

As for the guys behind McClain and Pappoe, the lack of non-conference games means Auburn hasn’t had many opportunities to try and develop them.

“The unique thing is this year, you don't have any non-conference games. So it's hard to develop young guys when you normally three non-conference or four non-conference games you can really give some quality time in the second half,” Malzahn said. “Now in the LSU game, I know we were able to do that, but the rest of the games have been pretty close. So it's been a little bit unique in challenge about developing that depth.”

While he’s had just four tackles all season, Cam Riley is a player Malzahn believes could develop well going into next year.

“But Cam Riley's a guy that we feel very good about that's played at times,” Malzahn said. “I think he's going to be in a really good spot. You know, a couple of those other young guys, too, that we feel like are going to be excellent linebackers.”

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