Auburn has always been known for being "Running Back U" and consistently having one of the better defenses around. Not much has changed in the RB department and it appears that moniker will stick for years to come; however, the D has been...well....less than stellar over the past two seasons. Saturday's game could be the start of a resurgence of Auburn defense and in the coming weeks, they'll have plenty of opportunity to prove it. But one guy has been nothing less than a beast from game 1 this year and probably had as much to do with the win over LSU as anybody.
At one point in the second quarter, Fairley was in the backfield doing a tap dance on the helmet of some poor Bayou Bengal. He came up with his right arm hanging and was visibly hurt. In the midst of our Textapalooza, I told GF that NF is hurting and it could be a shoulder. I honestly thought at that moment, the entire game could change because I think this guy is just that big a part of this D. He was walking slowly toward the defensive huddle and holding his arm when they started running someone in to replace him. Fairley looked at the sideline and waived them off, lined up and promptly blew the next play up like a man possssed. I professed my man love at this point in the game.
We've had some solid D-linemen at Auburn over the years, many of which have gone on to long pro careers. But I honestly can't recall any lineman since Tracy Rocker that had this much of a distruptive affect on an offense. We haven't had a lineman that can literally take over parts of a game since Rocker. Some of you may even be too young to recall what a bear TR really was. AU rarely had to blitz with him on the line because he was always in someone's face in the backfield. Fairley has those same qualities. Our D has certainly struggled at times this year but Nick Fairley has been playing at a first team All-American level.
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