It has not been the season anyone at Auburn expected.

Sitting at 2-5 and on a four-game losing streak, not much has gone right for the Tigers in the last month, but the emergence of a few freshmen on defense has been a bright spot.

Jay Crawford, who played sparingly in Auburn's first four games, has either led or been second on the team in snaps played since week five.

And while being forced into the fire has been a bit of a whirlwind for him, Crawford has loved every second of it.

"It’s almost like a dream come true," Crawford said about playing as a freshman. "As a little kid you always want to play in the SEC. It’s like a surreal feeling to me, to be honest."

Crawford has always felt that he has the ability to play at this level, but he also had quite a bit to learn.

Now that he's getting thrown in the fire, he has been able to take the next steps in improving as a player.

"I feel like I always had the abilities to do it," Crawford said about playing in the SEC. "I always needed to make that next step. That next step was getting in the film room and getting with Coach and knowing the little things."

As he's played more, Crawford's confidence has gone up, and the numbers reflect that. Since he started getting consistent snaps in week five, Crawford's Pro Football Focus grades have improved every week.

Crawford's grade in week five was 63.5, 71.7 the following week and 72.1 against Missouri.

And if the stats aren't enough, his teammates have noticed it as well, including Jerrin Thompson, someone who Crawford has latched onto in meeting rooms.

"One thing about Jay is that he's grown a ton of confidence," Thompson said. "Being able to get those game-ready snaps and actually get his feet wet has been a real big confidence-booster for him. He has that swagger. That's one of the biggest things as a DB: Your confidence and just playing loose. Jay has definitely shown that he's able to be mature and just be a guy for us."

Adversity is inevitable in football.

Auburn has dealt with quite a bit this season, and being a freshman playing in the SEC, Crawford has dealt with quite a bit himself.

It's something he's had to learn how to deal with.

"I would say keeping my head down and fighting through adversity," Crawford said. "It’s something every team is going to go through. We’ve hit adversity now. We just have to fight through it."

Not much has gone right for Auburn, but the emergence of the freshmen on defense is an outlier.

It has the future potentially looking bright.

"Looking forward to next year," Crawford said. "We know we’re going to be a young group next year and we’re going to have to step up. Everybody being accountable. When something comes your way just make the best of it.