Two of the biggest reasons why Auburn has been more effective at pass rush and stopping the run this season are the play of Derrick Brown and Dontavius Russell.
The Tigers starting defensive tackles are each having career years entering the Iron Bowl.
Brown, a sophomore, is second on the team with 44 tackles including eight for loss with 3.5 sacks. Those are comparable to the output of Montravius Adams (44 tackles with 8.5 for loss and 4.5 sacks) last season.
After not recording a tackle for loss last season, Russell, a redshirt-junior, has returned to having a presence in the backfield with 35 tackles including a career-high 5.5 for loss and two sacks.
"Dontavius, for the last two years he's been Mr. Consistency," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "He's really played well over a long period of time. And Derrick is flipping the switch, I mean, he's playing his best ball right now. And just really playing in the offense's backfield, using his hands better, coming off and making plays.
"Obviously when you're really stout in the middle it helps everything else and those two guys have really set a good tone for us."
The Iron Bowl will be a matchup of strengths as No. 6 Auburn (9-2, 6-1 SEC) is ranked 16th in rush defense (118.2 yards per game) while No. 1 Alabama and its ninth-ranked rushing offense has run for at least 116 yards in every game this season.
The Crimson Tide (11-0, 7-0 SEC) hasn't been held under 100 rushing yards in a game since against Arkansas (66) in 2014, a span of 49 games.
Brown and Russell will be critical to Auburn's ability to contain Damien Harris, Jalen Hurts and Bo Scarbrough.
"They've been doing a great job up front," safety Tray Matthews said. "Both of them are really big guys, they plug the holes up very well. It's very easy to play behind them, especially when I'm in the box playing linebacker. They're definitely a big key to this game stopping the run."
Auburn was extremely successful in limiting Georgia to 46 rushing yards yards two weeks ago. It was the least by a top 10 rush offense of a Power 5 team since 2009.
"Dontavius Russell and Marlon Davidson and Derrick Brown really did a very, very good job -- there's numerous plays in there where they had their gap owned, cleared their gap, and they physically wiped across the block and made a play," defensive coordinator Kevin Steele said. "I think it starts and ends, like I've always said, with the guys up front: Nick Coe, Jeff Holland, Andrew Williams, Derrick Brown, Marlon Davidson and Dontavius Russell. Those guys on tape (against Georgia) knew their job and did their job, and it made it really easy for the back end to fit in on the run."
If Brown and Russell can do repeat their performance on Saturday, it could be a deciding factoring in whether Auburn goes to the SEC Championship.
James Crepea is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @JamesCrepea.