Pressuring Trask key for Tigers' defense

AUBURN | No. 7 Auburn has 13 sacks this season, good enough to rank 4th in the SEC.

But there’s been opportunities for more, and that’s an area the Tigers’ defenders are trying to improve going into this Saturday’s showdown at No. 10 Florida.

“You go in film and you look at the start to it, you know the pressure, I feel like we can do a lot of that by cleaning up our technique with our stats — just more about finishing our move faster or just finishing,” said senior defensive end Marlon Davidson, who is second on the team with 2.5 sacks.

“I missed two sacks last week against Mississippi State, and that kind of crushed me when I watched it on film; if I had just took an extra step here, I would’ve got there. You know what I mean? The fundamental part of the game, I feel like we can clean up that and I feel like we’ll finish on the quarterback more often.”

Pressuring Gator quarterback Kyle Trask could be a key for Auburn in the matchup between the two top 10 teams. Trask, who took over the starting duties for an injured Feleipe Franks during the Kentucky game Sept. 14, has been sacked five times in two and a half games including three by Towson last Saturday.

“It’ll be a big factor,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “He’s got one of the best completion percentages in all of college football. Trying to make him uncomfortable, just like they’re going to try to do with our quarterback. I think that’ll be a big factor in the game, who can make the other quarterback more uncomfortable.”

Trask has completed 77.3 percent of his passes for 647 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions. The fourth-year junior's 178.56 passer rating ranks fourth in the SEC.

“He’s in rhythm. He gets rid of the ball. He knows where to go with the ball. He doesn’t hold it a long time,” Malzahn said. “He’s got some real good receivers, I’ll tell you that. I’m impressed with their receiver group, as a matter of fact very impressed.”

Trask, however, isn’t as mobile as Franks. He has -14 yards rushing on nine carries.

“That actually makes me a little more happier, having a guy that wants to sit back there and throw the ball. That leads to more sacks for me,” Davidson said.

Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT on CBS.