One of Auburn football’s main problems in 2024 was turnover.
Due in significant part to the offense’s early-season ball security problems, the Tigers finished 120th out of 134 FBS teams in terms of turnover margin last season.
But the defense could have done a better job of forcing turnovers as well. In terms of forced turnovers, Auburn’s defense came in 104th place; defensive coordinator DJ Durkin hopes to improve that by 2025.
“We did emphasize it, I felt, but we didn’t emphasize it enough, didn’t do a good job with it,” Durkin said to reporters on Wednesday. Since it has the closest correlation to victories and losses of anything, we must do our part to take the ball away.
Although Durkin acknowledged the pass rush’s contribution, he classified forced turnovers as a team statistic.
At times, we were able to influence the quarterback. Durkin stated, “I believe we need to do that more consistently.” while those plays are available, we must then execute well while making plays with the ball down the field.
This season, Auburn’s roster appears to have the components for both of those goals. With 45 pressures in 2024, Keldric Faulk leads the pass rush, and a deep rotation is anticipated on the defensive line.
In terms of defense, Auburn’s secondary has perhaps been the best part of camp thus far. More takeaways may result from Durkin’s praise of sophomore corner Jay Crawford’s ball skills.
Setting up the players is one thing, but Durkin also wants to emphasize the importance of generating turnovers, particularly in the secondary, on a mental level.
According to Durkin, it basically comes down to those guys realizing that we need to be alert. We need to make more plays with the ball when we’re playing vision coverage, but every coverage will look different depending on how you’re playing and what you expect from those people.
Auburn will play Baylor on August 29 to kick off the 2025 season after continuing preseason camp on Thursday.
For AL.com, Peter Rauterkus writes about Auburn athletics. You may email him at [email protected] or follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus.
