Auburn Football: Tigers make statement with opening win over Washington

3. Defense wins championships

It appears as though both of these teams are truly buying into the old, but timeless, phrase “defense wins championships”.

Jake Browning is one of the NFL’s top quarterback prospects in next year’s draft. And Auburn’s defense kept him contained for the majority of the game. With the exception of a few great plays to string together a couple of drives, the Tigers did a relatively good job against the Pac-12’s top offense.

Additionally, Auburn forced two turnovers, one of which was on the goal line. The Tigers will need to continue this type of defensive performance throughout the season due to the talent at the quarterback position throughout the SEC.

Washington’s defense, on the other hand, gave up many more yards, yet stood firm when it counted the most. The “bend but don’t break” mentality applied particularly to the Huskies defense, especially early in the game. Jarrett Stidham was on fire and completed 15-of-18 pass completions for 183 yards in the first half.

Regardless, the Huskies gave up only one touchdown in the half and stopped the two-point conversion attempt.

The defense remained stout throughout the majority of the second half as well. Many of the Pac-12 offenses that Washington will face are not of the same quality of Auburn. However, it would be beneficial for Washington to create more than zero turnovers in the game.