AU FOOTBALL: McCluster poses multitude of problems for Tigers

A handful of Auburn defenders have compared Ole Miss’ Dexter McCluster to elusive West Virginia tailback Noel Devine.

That admission might be the equivalent of Auburn’s run-weary defense engraving its own tombstone.

In his two games against Auburn, Devine tallied 335 rushing yards, 39 receiving yards and four touchdowns, as he slipped and juked around would-be tacklers on a number of his 32 carries. A similar running back to Devine, Arkansas’ Michael Smith has racked up 379 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns in his last two efforts against the Tigers.

McCluster is coming off a game against Arkansas in which he rolled up 123 yards rushing, 137 receiving and a touchdown.

Uh oh.

“If you watch the film, his speed on the field is a little different than everybody else,” coach Gene Chizik said. “So that is a challenge.”

On the depth chart, McCluster isn’t even listed as a tailback, but he’s proven the most effective out of the backfield. He carried the ball just 14 times in his first two seasons, while primarily serving as a change-of-pace wide receiver.

He found his niche in 2008 when Houston Nutt arrived, serving as the triggerman in Ole Miss’ Wild Rebel formation, leading the Rebels in rushing. He finished with 655 rushing yards, averaging 6.0 yards per carry, to go with his 625 receiving yards.

This year, the Rebels had used him only in spurts, limiting his carries through the early part of the season. Last Saturday against the Hogs served as a breakout game of sorts for the senior, which helped contribute to an offense Chizik said is “probably the most balanced” Auburn will face all season.

“Dexter is a special athlete, and we have known that,” Nutt said. “This guy makes things happen. As long as he is healthy, you always want to try to get him the football.”

When Auburn sold out to stop the run against LSU, good things largely happened, as the Tigers limited bruising tailback Charles Scott to 20 yards. But freshman Wildcat triggerman Russell Shepard’s 69-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter exposed a couple areas of weakness the Tigers are still trying to correct: their susceptibility to the big play and their inability to chase down and wrangle speedy scat backs.

“I thought the tackling was better,” defensive coordinator Ted Roof said. “We didn’t miss as many tackles as we had the previous week. That’s all you can do is just keep working to get better so we can put a complete football game together.

“When you make a mistake against an LSU as opposed to some other people, they take advantage of it with athleticism. That’s the league we play in. We’ve got to just get better.”

McCluster, of course, isn’t the Rebels’ only offensive weapon.

Remember Jevan Snead?

The junior quarterback was lumped into Tebow-gate at SEC Media Days because South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier accidentally selected him as preseason All-SEC first-team quarterback instead of Florida’s Tim Tebow.

Snead certainly hasn’t sniffed Superman’s cape in a disappointing season to date, tossing 11 interceptions to his 14 touchdowns, but his past two weeks have been better. He combined for 572 passing yards and five touchdowns in games in which the Rebels have outscored the opposition, 78-30.

“Jevan’s a great quarterback and obviously we’re going to have to be very sound with what we do, coverage-wise,” Chizik said. “They do a great job of protecting him. And obviously they have some really, really talented receivers, so it’s going to be a great challenge for us, there’s no question about it.”

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