Mark Stoops expected more from defensive front at Auburn

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Nose tackle Quinton Bohanna did not have a tackle against Auburn. (SEC Photo)

Remember a few weeks ago when defensive coordinator Brad White said the only statistic that really mattered to him was the final score. Obviously coach Mark Stoops is the same way and that’s why even though UK limited Auburn to 91 net yards rushing and 324 yards overall it didn’t matter because the Cats lost 29-13.

On the defensive front, the UK head coach praised junior Josh Paschal, who had 4 1/2 tackles.

“He really, really played at a high level. I mean, really good. The rest of the guys (on the defensive front) showed up at times, did some good things at times,” Stoops said.

“Phil (Hoskins) showed a few flashes of doing some really good things, so did Quentin (Bohanna). But overall, we expect more. We were very close on some pressures a couple of times but I thought they did a really nice job and their QB did a really nice job stepping up in there and hanging in there and throwing the ball.

“After viewing the film you have to give a shout out to (Auburn quarterback) Bo Nix because he made a few throws under duress that were big-time throws, but we’re going to see that throughout the year and see it from (Ole Miss quarterback Matt) Corral this week. Big-time arm talent, can throw the ball all over the place. But Bo certainly made some big-time throws.”

Auburn only ran 57 offensive plays compared to UK’s 78 and that neutralized the way Stoops had hoped to use his team’s defensive depth.

“It did go against the plan in particular in the first half because we did control the game in the first half. Then the second half, we didn’t. We had way too many three-and-outs in the second half. If you count the fake punt, I want to say we had four or five three-and-outs and really five if you count that (fake punt) and that cannot happen,” Stoops said.

“That is not going to bode well for us and not how we can play and win games in this league. We have to play complementary football and play good on all sides to have an opportunity to win. We cannot be heavy on one side or another. We have to be balanced across the board and we didn’t play good enough across the board in the second half.”

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