Big tackle totals are made for linebackers and safeties. In fact, a player at one of those positions has led Auburn in tackles during 18 of the last 20 seasons. Those 18 names include guys you know so well: Josh Bynes, Daren Bates, Will Herring, Alex Lincoln, Takeo Spikes, Karlos Dansby, Travis Williams, Dontarrious Thomas.
Yet those two outliers? That's the story here.
The first is defensive tackle Leonardo Carson, who led the team in tackles with 90 during the 1998 season. Defensive coordinator "Brother" Bill Oliver used a 3-4 front for the most part back in those days and Carson's lateral quickness made him a perfect fit for that system. Fifty solos for a DT? That's a man.
(Carson is the center of a funny story from the 1998 season. During a players-only meeting, punter Jeremy Zills stood up to make a plea for better communication among all players. Carson immediately shouted Zills down, telling him that "nobody (cares) what a punter thinks about anything." Zills conceded the point, which was the right move considering Carson wasn't known for his empathy or passivity.)
The second outlier is Josh "Stump" Thompson, a mountain of a man who played DT in a 4-3 system. I think of him as an elite nose, a guy who can take on double teams and still manage to control his gap(s), but he was much more than that. Thompson finished with a team-high 67 tackles during the 2007 season. That's the lowest team-leading figure during the modern era of Auburn football (since 1975), but that doesn't take away from Thompson's achievement. He played in T.J. Jackson's shadow during the first years of his career -- they were similar kinds of players -- but Thompson proved himself to be a top-tier defender when his chance arrived.
**********ON THIS DATE: Auburn is 2-2 in games played on Sept. 8. That group includes a 38-17 win over Cal State Fullerton in 1990 and a 27-21 win over Ole Miss in 2001. The losses include a 26-23 overtime loss to South Florida in 2007 and a 28-10 loss at Mississippi State in 2012.
The South Florida game was good in some ways. The AU defense made not one but two red-zone stands during the late stages of the fourth quarter. The Bulls had 1st-and-Goal at the 3 and were forced to kick a field goal, which missed. The next possession included a 1st-and-Goal at the 9, which ended with an 18-yard FG to tie the game with 55 seconds remaining.
That also was the game that featured a trio of third-quarter fumbles -- the first by Brandon Cox, the second and third from the hand of Mario Fannin. Tommy Tuberville was most displeased by those gaffes and Fannin, who had been splitting time with Ben Tate at that point, immediately became the No. 2 option.
Yet those two outliers? That's the story here.
The first is defensive tackle Leonardo Carson, who led the team in tackles with 90 during the 1998 season. Defensive coordinator "Brother" Bill Oliver used a 3-4 front for the most part back in those days and Carson's lateral quickness made him a perfect fit for that system. Fifty solos for a DT? That's a man.
(Carson is the center of a funny story from the 1998 season. During a players-only meeting, punter Jeremy Zills stood up to make a plea for better communication among all players. Carson immediately shouted Zills down, telling him that "nobody (cares) what a punter thinks about anything." Zills conceded the point, which was the right move considering Carson wasn't known for his empathy or passivity.)
The second outlier is Josh "Stump" Thompson, a mountain of a man who played DT in a 4-3 system. I think of him as an elite nose, a guy who can take on double teams and still manage to control his gap(s), but he was much more than that. Thompson finished with a team-high 67 tackles during the 2007 season. That's the lowest team-leading figure during the modern era of Auburn football (since 1975), but that doesn't take away from Thompson's achievement. He played in T.J. Jackson's shadow during the first years of his career -- they were similar kinds of players -- but Thompson proved himself to be a top-tier defender when his chance arrived.
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The South Florida game was good in some ways. The AU defense made not one but two red-zone stands during the late stages of the fourth quarter. The Bulls had 1st-and-Goal at the 3 and were forced to kick a field goal, which missed. The next possession included a 1st-and-Goal at the 9, which ended with an 18-yard FG to tie the game with 55 seconds remaining.
That also was the game that featured a trio of third-quarter fumbles -- the first by Brandon Cox, the second and third from the hand of Mario Fannin. Tommy Tuberville was most displeased by those gaffes and Fannin, who had been splitting time with Ben Tate at that point, immediately became the No. 2 option.
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Happy Birthday to former wideout Rod Smith, who turns 30 today. You may know him as Rodgeriqus or simply "Dreek." He led Auburn in receptions and yards during the 2007 season (52-704-5 TDs) and again in 2008 (30-332-1 TD). His 2007 season is tied for 8th best in school history in terms of receptions (52) and he's 8th on the school's Career Receiver leaderboard with 114 receptions. Not bad for a kid who was a walk-on during his first two varsity seasons.
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