Auburn football: Tigers’ D-Line is second-best in college football

Auburn football has had quite the start to their inaugural season under head coach Bryan Harsin. After knocking off the first two opponents by 50+ points, the Tigers took a tough defeat at Penn State as their first loss of the season.

Though Auburn football’s pass defense was lacking in their week three matchup, the Tigers held the Nittany Lions to just 386 yards. Sean Clifford and his offense were able to convert on only five of ten third downs and failed to convert on fourth down on both attempts.

Penn State’s run game was locked down by Auburn as well, totaling only 84 rushing yards and an average of 2.5 yards per carry by the end of the game. According to Pro Football Focus, after week three Auburn football has the second most highly graded defensive line in all of college football:

Three of the top five defensive lines hail from the SEC–Auburn, Tennessee, and LSU–with Oklahoma ranked first and USC’s d-line in fourth. According to ESPN, the Tigers’ defense overall ranks 13th with an average of 12.7 points allowed per game.

Auburn football is predicted by many to have another non-conference blowout game this weekend, but fans expect to see the Tigers improve from last week’s game despite having an easier opponent on the Plains. Fortunately for the orange and blue, Georgia State’s strength lies in their run game.

The Panthers have a strong offensive line but they struggle to produce in the air, with their starting quarterback completing only eight of 16 passes for 161 yards this season, per Auburn Undercover.

The Tigers will look to correct the mistakes from the 28-20 loss at Beaver Stadium at home this weekend. Kickoff is at 3:00 p.m. central time this Saturday from Jordan-Hare Stadium.