STARKVILLE — Joe Moorhead knows the statistics. Mississippi State’s head football coach knows No. 8 Auburn (4-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) has a defense ranked third in the nation in scoring defense (12.6 points per game), fifth on third down (25.32 conversion percentage allowed) and tied for seventh with 11 turnovers created.
Numbers of that quality should look familiar; they’re pretty similar to what MSU has faced through two weeks of conference play.
While the Bulldogs (3-2, 0-2 SEC) turn the focus on themselves to fix their ailing offense, a case can be made that much of their offensive struggles has been based on the quality of defense they have faced. Yet, the visiting Tigers grant them no break.
“I think the interior and the core of our line has performed a little bit better in pass protection, and some of that is relative to the players that we’ve seen, 99 for Florida (Jachai Polite) and 41 for Kentucky (Josh Allen) have been very good players,” Moorhead said.
Entering Week 6, the Kentucky and Florida defenses that held MSU to 13 combined points are among the top five passing defenses and total defenses in the conference by yards allowed per game; by the more telling measure of yards per play allowed, Kentucky is second and Florida is fifth, both good enough to crack the top 25 nationally.
One could argue those numbers are influenced by a small sample size that includes facing MSU at one of its mightiest struggles of the last decade, having failed to gain 205 yards of offense in back-to-back games for the first time since 2006. The reality is the Kentucky and Florida defenses are good outside of their encounters with MSU: Kentucky just held South Carolina to 10 points in launching itself to a tie atop the SEC East with Georgia, while the Gators have held three of their five opponents to passer rating below 100.
All in all, it has been good enough to play both units in the top 10 in the nation in scoring defense. Joining them in that top 10: Auburn.
“They play a mix of one- and two-high man and zone coverages and third down, they do a great job of pressuring,” Moorhead said.
The Tiger defense has been productive against the run, currently second in the SEC behind MSU in tackles for a loss with 44, tied for eighth in the nation. In that production it has tallied 15 sacks, tied for second in the SEC and tied for 15th in the nation.
A lot of that is credit to a defensive front that Auburn coach Gus Malzahn called, “the strength of our team,” at SEC Media Days. Those players have backed up that claim: defensive tackle Derrick Brown and defensive end Big Kat Bryant are part of a tie for the team lead in sacks with two; the edge presence on the other side, Nick Coe, is second on the team with 5.5 tackles for a loss.
“Just from a talent standpoint, front seven, I’ve been at Auburn for I guess nine years and this group is at least as talented or more talented than we’ve had,” Malzahn said.
“I think they’ve played like we expected them to play. They’re stopping the run and they’re disrupting things, so I think they’re off to a good start.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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