When former Florida Gators coach Will Muschamp was hired to be Auburn’s defensive coordinator, many thought that the Tigers’ defense would be strong, physical, and able to keep up with the rest of those in the SEC.
Fast forward to today and Auburn is 2-1, ranks 104th in the nation in total defense and could barely beat FCS opponent Jacksonville State in Week 2.
Naturally, Muschamp is not happy about the situation and expressed his frustrations to the press last night, particularly about how badly Auburn defended the run against LSU last weekend. Tom Green of the Opelika-Auburn News was there to capture everything on Twitter.
Muschamp on 411 rus yards: "You have to be able to get off blocks and make a tackle. … A lot of it is want-to. That team outphysicaled us"
— AUBlog (@AUBlog) September 23, 2015
Muschamp: There will be personnel changes. "When you play as abysmal as we did, you have to make changes." … Will see them Saturday
— AUBlog (@AUBlog) September 23, 2015
Muschamp: "There are communication issues we've had the entire fall at linebacker and at safety. … It's frustrating."
— AUBlog (@AUBlog) September 23, 2015
Muschamp: "It's easy to be critical when you're sitting in the stands watching Leonard Fournette run down your throat."
— AUBlog (@AUBlog) September 23, 2015
Muschamp said, "quite frankly, we're changing the culture around here."
— AUBlog (@AUBlog) September 23, 2015
Muschamp: "It falls on my shoulders and nobody else. We just got to prepare the guys better"
— AUBlog (@AUBlog) September 23, 2015
Granted, a lot of Auburn’s struggles could also have to do with the fact that star defensive lineman Carl Lawson is currently out with a hip injury for what is being called an “extended” period, and that certainly can’t be helping matters.
But the fact of the matter is that Muschamp is right. Auburn’s defense has looked god awful this year for one reason or another, and nothing is going to change without a shakeup of some kind. Hopefully, the team can show something of a small turnaround this weekend against Mississippi State.
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*Featured Photo (above) credit to USA TODAY Sports