Top to bottom, the Auburn Tigers football team is trying to find consistency. The coaches and players alike both acknowledge that they have not played a complete game this season.
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De’Marcus Riddick spoke to the media after Tuesday’s practice about the continued emphasis to play consistently throughout an entire game. The message was simple.
“Just working hard, really. Just going play-by-play, just working hard,” Riddick said. “That's about it.”
Another theme in the coaches’ press conferences on Monday was trying to create depth at each position.
Head Coach Alex Golesh said some players they put in as substitutes are not as ready as they would like.
Riddick talked about building depth, specifically, at the linebacker position.
“Two guys that I've been seeing in the linebacker room actually putting in the extra work and stuff like that is Mike Canty and (Shadarius) Toodle,” Riddick said. “So those are two guys that we're really looking at to step up a little bit.”
Another concern for Golesh coming out of the last two blowout losses is fatigue. Offensive Coordinator Joel Gordon said Monday it is a balancing act to push guys hard in practice and still have them at one hundred percent for game days.
Riddick took the media through his process of staying in shape to avoid fatigue late in the season.
“Just taking care of our bodies when we have the time to,” Riddick said. “Just going in the training room, taking care of our body, get in the cold tub, stuff like that.”
As the Tigers prepare to host Arkansas on Saturday, Riddick said the focus at practice is learning from previous mistakes in recent games. He also said he would continue to play multiple positions within the defensive scheme.
“I love outside. I love doing what I'm doing. I love the way Coach Durk plays me,” Riddick said.
Auburn’s defense will need to dramatically improve its performance if they want to defeat Arkansas on Saturday. The recent numbers are not pretty.
Against LSU and Ole Miss, it surrendered 83 points and 1,039 yards. The Tigers last held an opponent under 30 points in their 27-24 victory over No. 1 Georgia.
The last time Auburn held a team under 20 points was in a 21-15 win over Vanderbilt in September.
The Tigers and Razorbacks kick things off from Jordan-Hare Stadium at 11:45 a.m. CST on Nov. 7.
Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.
