Vanderbilt's defense will present Auburn with a 'unique' challenge

The Auburn Tigers posted 373 yards last Saturday in their loss to the Florida Gators, but it was not enough for the Tigers to pull off the win.

>The Tigers got off to a slow start, ending the 1st quarter down by 3 yards and ultimately producing just 102 rushing yards. Auburn also did not have as much time with the ball as their counterparts, having just 20:44 of possession compared to Florida's 39:16.

>This week, the Tigers will move on and try to bounce back against the Vanderbilt Commodores, a team without as much buzz as in previous years, but still a quality team with a 3-0 record. Auburn offensive coordinator Joel Gordon explained this week that Vanderbilt's defense presents a different challenge than Florida did last week.

>“The way that they attack is a little bit different. One way or another, they force you to deal with some different schemes than what we saw last week," Gordon said. "One week at a time, you're trying to understand the presentations of challenges you face from a defense. Baylor was what Baylor was, Southern Miss, and then Florida. You’re trying to understand what those things were as an offensive unit and the coaching staff, obviously, and figure out how we do well against it and what we need to fix."

>Despite not posting as many yards as Florida last week, Auburn still did several things well. Byrum Brown passed for 271 yards, and the offense produced 10 plays that gained 15 or more yards; six of those were for gains of 20 or more. Gordon will look to shut down the negatives from last week's performance and capitalize on the positive moments from the Florida loss.

>"I think we take the situations that we did well against Florida and move on with it, and the things we didn’t do well we address and get ready, because if you don’t get things fixed, people aren't going to go away," Gordon said. "They’re just going to keep trying to expose the issues that you have. We have to build on the things we did, because we did a lot of good things, and we have to fix the mistakes. Vanderbilt is good on defense, but uniquely different than what the last challenge was.”

>Auburn battles Vanderbilt on Saturday at 3:15 p.m. CT. The Tigers hold an advantage in points per game and total yards over Vanderbilt, but the Commodores' defense ranks in the top 10 in the SEC, and the Tigers must find a way to expose Vanderbilt early to get out with a win.

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>This article originally appeared on Auburn Wire: Vanderbilt's defense will present Auburn with a 'unique' challenge