Auburn's EDGE rushers received plenty of preseason hype this fall. Whether it was Derick Hall, T.D. Moultry, Romello Height or Eku Leota, Auburn's coaches and players couldn't stop talking about them.

The group quickly showed why on Saturday.

"The first thing is you’ve got to stop the run to rush the passer," Hall said after the game. "I think we did really good at getting some run stops. Then when we got a chance to pin our ears back and rush the passer, I think keeping the edge and bringing edge pressure is very important. Keeping them in the pocket and let the guys in the middle work while we work. We work hand in hand. Bringing pressure off the edge is very beneficial. Those guys on the back doing their job by holding coverage enough for us to get home.”

Hall finished the game with six tackles, including a tackle for loss and a sack.

The best of the bunch on Saturday, though, was Moultry. Moultry has consistently been a standout in fall camp, but it's never really translated to the season. So when Moultry received hype again this fall, it was easy to be skeptical.

But he quickly put that to rest on Saturday, finishing with seven tackles, three for loss and a sack.

“I’m excited. T.D. is my guy," Hall said. "He’s come along in a lot of different things. Just to see him be successful, I’m really happy for him. He’s a great guy and a great player. He’s definitely taken that next step to help push us in the right direction as a defense. I’m extremely excited and proud of him.”

Height added three tackles and Leota had a tackle for loss. As a group, they were a constant threat in the Akron backfield.

"Well I thought the defense overall, I thought those guys were getting to the ball. We were flying around," Bryan Harsin said. "We tackled well. I thought we tackled well. I thought we were relentless in our pursuit to get to the ball."

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