He couldn’t help but smile.
Antonio Coleman’s senior season finally stopped being mediocre Saturday and suddenly became pretty darn good.
Coleman came into his final season at Auburn, after foregoing the NFL Draft last spring, recognized as one of the very best defensive ends in not only the SEC, but the country.
But, hampered by nagging wrist and knee injuries, plus having to deal with opposing offenses gameplanning for him, has made this year a frustrating one.
That all ended Saturday, as Coleman had what he called one of the best games of his college career.
“It’s been a long time coming, man,” he said. “I just got out there and had fun. Just flew around and made plays.”
A lot of them.
Coleman’s final line looked like this: Five tackles, two sacks, four tackles for loss, one forced fumble, a blocked extra point and four quarterback hurries.
That’s a season for some players.
“Coleman played on a different level today,” Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt said. “He was on a different level than what we saw on film. We had a hard time with him.”
Coleman said he was in “the zone” Saturday, much like that of a basketball player who’s making every shot he throws up.
“I definitely felt like that today,” he said.
But for as happy as Coleman was about his personal performance, he was even more excited for the rest of his defense and team, as the Tigers broke their three-game losing streak with Saturday’s 33-20 win.
Although Auburn’s defense gave up 394 yards of total offense, the Tigers did force three turnovers, including two interceptions by cornerback Walt McFadden.
McFadden returned his first INT for a touchdown in the third quarter to give Auburn a 24-7 lead.
“As a unit, as an overall defense, I think this is the best game we’ve played all year,” Coleman said. “We’ve still got a long way to go. We’ve got homecoming next weekend, and we’ve got two tough fights coming after that. So we’ve got to get ready for those.”
mszvetitz@oanow.com | 737-2513
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