Impact Stats: Total Defense

Tommy Tuberville’s Auburn Tigers placed fifth in the nation among all Divison I-A teams in Total Defense in 2004, surrendering just 19 total touchdowns, the second lowest total that year. They were first in the country in Scoring Defense. “When you’re consistently good on defense, it gives your offense a lot of chances to go for big plays. You’re going to give your offense more turnovers and more balls in better field position and, to me, where it really starts is defense. You can look at some teams that are averaging 40-50 points a game, but sooner or later someone’s going to stop you and you’ve got to be good on defense to win consistently. You can win games offensively, but to win games consistently and stay in the top echelon, you’ve got to play consistent defense.” Consistent defense means being able to stop both the run and the pass on a regular basis. Time has