Shutout streak ends for Auburn defense

Auburn’s defense almost extended its streak to seven quarters. Almost.

But with 2:33 to play in the third quarter Saturday against Southern Miss, Auburn finally gave up some points.

Shawn Nelson caught a 1-yard pass from USM quarterback Austin Davis for the score, ruining the Tigers’ bid for a second consecutive shutout and disappointing a capacity crowd at Jordan-Hare Stadium and an entire defensive football team.

Never mind the fact that same defense held a potent USM rushing attack to 37 yards for the game — the same Golden Eagle running game that racked up more than 400 yards in its season-opening win. And never mind the fact Auburn caused three turnovers in the final quarter.

Everyone wanted another shutout.

“You have an ego about teams scoring,” junior cornerback Jerraud Powers said. “We had that shutout last week, and we came into this game trying to get a shutout also. It’s just that ego you have.”

It didn’t happen Saturday, but defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads isn’t too broken up about it.

“(Southern Miss) is a football team and a football system that snaps a lot of balls with people not ready to play,” Rhoads said. “And we preached and coached hard with our urgency all week. And I saw a defensive football team where I can’t remember one snap in that first half where 11 guys weren’t ready to play. And that was critically exciting to see. And I thought they played dog-gone good for 30 minutes.

“The second half, I thought they took their foot off the gas for a little bit. But then finished strong. And we were very pleased to get three takeaways in that fourth quarter.”

Offensive line shuffles up
Auburn offensive line coach Hugh Nall pulled a switch-a-roo during practice leading up to Saturday’s game.

Nall saw that senior Jason Bosley — the team’s starting center last year and in the first game this season — wasn’t snapping the ball as well as backup center Ryan Pugh, who also doubles as Auburn’s starting right guard.

So Nall met with the coaching staff and decided to switch the two for Saturday’s game, putting Pugh at his more natural position of center and moving the bigger Bosley out to the edge at right tackle.

“(We) just thought there was a lot of combinations to it,” Nall said. “No. 1 was the snap. I thought that Pugh had been actually snapping the ball better. I thought that Bosley was a little more physical. Bosley gave us a little bit bigger body at the tackle position — a little more size, a little more range.

“So we just looked at it. I liked what I saw during the week — how it looked — and decided to go ahead and with it.”
Pugh, at 6-foot-3, 280 pounds, was more than fine with the switch.

“I found out about midweek and we just ran with it from there,” he said. “Anybody who’s 6-3 doesn’t belong at tackle, I know that for sure in this league.

“I did whatever the team needed. It’s something I felt comfortable playing.”

While Pugh has played center before and will most likely be the No. 1 center next season, it was Bosley’s first time playing tackle in a game.

“I thought (Bosley) did good,” Nall said. “First time he’s been out there, made some mistakes, but that’s the beauty of having an experienced lineman. They’re going to compete, especially a guy like Jason Bosley. He’s smart and does a great job wherever he is. I didn’t back down from doing it.”

Has Bosley found a home at tackle?

“We’ll see,” Nall said. “I’ll see how it goes. (Bosley) will still get a lot of reps at center during practice and we’ll just go from this week.”

WR Slaughter suspended
Tim Hawthorne got the start at the “X” receiver Saturday. The reason? Sophomore wide receiver Chris Slaughter has been suspended indefinitely, Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville said.

Slaughter caught four passes in AU’s season opener for 13 yards and a touchdown.

Opelika’s McCracken honored
Opelika High School head football coach Spence McCracken was honored with the Jack Meagher Award prior to kickoff at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

McCracken, Class 6A football’s most winningest active coach, will retire at the end of this season.

The Meagher Award — named after Auburn’s head coach from 1934-42 — was established to recognize “a person with Auburn University affiliation who made significant contributions to society through athletics.”

McCracken, who played at Auburn from 1968-71 under Ralph “Shug” Jordan, has coached high school football in Alabama for the last 36 years. McCracken won three state championships as head coach of R.E. Lee in Montgomery. McCracken has been at Opelika since 1995, where he has a 124-32 record.

Etc …
RB Tristan Davis took his first handoff in three years in for a touchdown. Davis’ second quarter touchdown Saturday vs. Southern Miss was for 13 yards. The last time he took a handoff was in 2005. … WR Rod Smith moved up to 12th place on Auburn’s all-time list for career catches Saturday with his one grab for 21 yards. … PK Wes Byrum’s 52-yard field goal in the third quarter was a career long, surpassing a 49 yarder last season against South Florida. … Former Opelika standout defensive tackle Zach Clayton recorded his first career sack in the fourth quarter. … Safety Zac Etheridge of Charles Henderson High School in Troy recorded his first career interception in the fourth quarter.

Best/Worst
Best Brett Favre impersonation: A stumbling Chris Todd flipped a pass to Ben Tate while nearly being sacked midway through the first quarter, netting a 27-yard gain.

Best hit: Cornerback Walter McFadden laid out USM wide receiver Gerald Baptiste on an attempted bubble screen late in the first quarter, briefly knocking Baptiste out of the game.

Best kick: Wes Byrum just sneaked a career-long 52-yard field goal over the crossbar in the third quarter.

Worst holding onto the ball: Auburn’s first two drives both ended in frustrating fumbles. Brad Lester fumbled into the end zone on the first drive, and Ben Tate coughed up the ball at the USM 15 on the second.

Worst trick play: USM receiver Gerald Baptiste attempted a throwback to quarterback Austin Davis in the third quarter, but offensive lineman Kyle Burkhart found himself in the way of the pass. Burkhart caught the ball, leading to an illegal touching penalty.

Worst guts: Facing fourth-and-less than-a-foot early in a still-scoreless game on its own 25, USM and head coach Larry Fedora trotted out the punting unit. It was all Auburn from there until the Tigers had built a comfortable lead.