Owen Pappoe’s first game was a quiet one.

Pappoe only recorded four tackles against Mercer, but the linebacker bounced back on Saturday recording seven tackles with four of them being solo.

“They were running away from me last week, man,” Pappoe said. “I was a little mad about that one. But I felt good, man, just been knocking rust off. It’s great to finally be back out there. I’m starting to feel more comfortable week by week.”

The two-time senior captain is the leader of the defense and a “crazy player” according to defensive back Keionte Scott.

“OP, man, that’s my dog man,” Scott said. “He flies around. He’s our quarterback out there and he does a good of leading us… that’s [Pappoe] the head of the snake.”

Pappoe is a major difference maker for Auburn's defense, just ask AU Coach, Bryan Harsin.

“Owen is a pro," Harsin said. "He has got that X-factor. I know when he is out there, we are better. He is an impact player.”

Auburn’s defense was “good” according to Pappoe as it only allowed 16 points including only allowing six in the 2nd half. Still, the Tigers need to get some things “corrected” heading into Penn State week.

“Need to get off the field on third down more,” Pappoe said. “We gave up some deep balls, too, so we’re going to get all that corrected. It’s just little things like guys having bad eyes, using bad leverages, busted coverages. We had a few busted coverages… maybe we can get away with things like that versus a team like this, but versus Penn State, we’re going to have to come out and correct those things.”

Last season was an injury-riddled one for Pappoe, but is he 100% now?

“110%,” Pappoe said with a smile.