23 Auburn

Fast Facts
1997 record: 10-3 (6-2, tied for 1st in SEC West)
Final ranking: No. 11 AP, No. 11 coaches' poll
1997 Averages	OFFENSE	DEFENSE
Scoring	26.6	19.4
Rushing Yards	73.8	114.2
Passing Yards	273.5	229.6
Total Yards	347.3	343.8

When he takes the field this fall, Tigers coach Terry Bowden will look much as he did five years ago during his first season at Auburn. Last February, Bowden began following a high-protein diet in which he ate only meat, eggs and cheese, and by July he had lost 46 pounds to reach his Auburn inaugural weight of 160.

Bowden's team will also look much as it did in 1993, when the Tigers held opponents to 17.5 points per game and finished 11-0. Though no one is guaranteeing a perfect record this season, the defense should be the equal of that '93 unit. "We have our best defense in five years," Bowden says, "and defense wins championships."

Though Auburn lost linebackers Takeo Spikes and Ricky Neal and occasional starting safety Martavius Houston from last season, the defense remains loaded with experience. Nine starters are back, led by senior linemen Jimmy Brumbaugh and Charles Dorsey, who combined for eight sacks last year.

The D's load will be heavy, at least early in the season, as redshirt sophomore quarterback Ben Leard grows into the starter's role. Playing behind now departed Dameyune Craig, the 6'3" Leard threw just two passes in '97. That's not to say he hasn't been tested, having battled the Tigers defense in practice for two years.

If Leard excels, some of the credit will go to Craig, who took his designated successor under his wing in the summer of '97. The two often got together to watch extra film or just grab dinner and talk. "He was preparing me," Leard says. "He dropped in little bits of information that will help me so I won't have to go through some of the hard times he went through." Craig has moved on to the Carolina Panthers, with whom he signed as an un-drafted free agent in the spring, but the two still speak to each other frequently.

Bowden, too, will help ease Leard into the job by shifting the focus of the attack. "We ran an offense last year that put incredible pressure on one player: Dameyune," Bowden says. "We'll go back to running some things that will spread the pressure around."

Auburn averaged just 73.8 rushing yards last fall, a figure Bowden wants to see increase considerably this year. The player he'll be counting on is sophomore Demontray Carter, who emerged from spring practice as the starting tailback. After plans to redshirt Carter in '97 were scrapped because of Auburn's struggling running attack, he played in the final seven games and finished third among Tigers backs, with 233 yards rushing. He was fumble prone and lacked upper-body strength, but since the end of last season he has put on 15 pounds.

The return of receiver Robert Baker, who was academically ineligible in '97, was the team's best news at the outset of the spring, but the joy was short-lived. A week into drills, Baker was arrested for cocaine trafficking; he was sentenced in May to 15 years in prison. That leaves little depth in the wideout corps other than senior Karsten Bailey, who led the team in receptions last season, with 53, and sophomore Clifton Robinson, who had 15 catches.

Luckily, no one expects the Tigers to win games by running up the score. "As long as they give us something, that's good by me," Brumbaugh says. "If our team wants to have a great season, it lies on the defense. I'd rather the game be on my shoulders than on someone else's."

[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]