Auburn’s Defense Shines Despite Loss to Cal: ‘We Had a Plan Put Together’

Despite the upset loss, the Auburn Tigers defense played well enough to win against the Cal Golden Bears.

Auburn Tigers sophomore DL Keldric Faulk shined in a loss to the Cal Bears. / Photo by Zach Bland, Auburn Tigers

A loss is never the goal for any team but the Auburn Tigers handled Cal well on the defensive side of the ball.

The Tigers failed to force a turnover of the season and the secondary struggled at times, but Auburn recorded eight tackles for loss and two sacks.

Auburn tightened up defensively in the second half due to adjustments the group made during halftime.

“We had a plan put together,” linebacker Jalen McLeod said after the game. Like we were fighting, facing adversity. So we all came together and we knew we had a battle. We knew we had to give the offense a chance. We see what we got to work on now, though.”

Linebacker Austin Keys highlighted specific things Auburn emphasized to remain competitive in the game.

“You try to get the ball back,” Keys said. “We didn't have many turnovers, so the big thing was trying to flip the offense and defense performance. Coach said we needed to lessen their third downs, and we needed to get some more conversions on third downs.” 

Auburn’s young players stepped up defensively which made a difference, particularly late in the game.

"It was crazy how they came in and just seeing how they had first-half adjustments and going back in for the second half and fixing it,” Keys said. “It was surprising to see, but we needed it."

When a team takes an unexpected loss, particularly early in the season, it can be difficult to remain focused. That will be important for the Tigers as they attempt to get back on track.

“We have to buckle up,” McLeod said. “We’re playing football like we got to. We really have to hone into our craft and not be messing off and playing around in practice. We’ve got to really focus on this. Everybody wants to come up and come at us. Y’all saw what happened today. Maybe it comes from practice.” 

Auburn will have a chance to do that against New Mexico next Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.