Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville shuffled his staff and brought in Al Borges to install a new offense in the spring. But he was most concerned about his defense at the end of spring practice.

"Normally, in the spring, your defense wins most of the scrimmages," Tuberville said during Sunday's SEC teleconference. "But our offense really dominated.

"Normally, if your offense wins in the spring, your defense is behind. In the SEC, you can't win when your defense is behind."

There were a couple of mitigating factors. First, Auburn had lost five defensive starters to the NFL; second, its defense worked mainly on fundamentals and kept it simple in scrimmages.

In preseason, Tuberville realized he didn't have a lot to worry about.

By then, he knew how good his offense was. And by then, the defense had demonstrated how its speed could disrupt an opposing offense.

The unbeaten, third-ranked Tigers will enter Saturday's SEC championship game against Tennessee with the nation's No. 1 defense against scoring. They have allowed an average of 9.6 points in 11 games and just one rushing touchdown.

They also rank fourth in total defense, ninth in pass defense and 10th in rushing defense. Arkansas managed 20 points on the Tigers; no one else has scored more than 14.

"We're not big, but we're very physical," Tuberville said. "We practice very hard.

"The biggest difference in this team and last year is that we're athletic. Our philosophy is to put as much speed and as many athletes on the field as we could and not worry about size."

The speed is especially evident at linebacker and end. Travis Williams (6-foot-1, 212 pounds) and Antarrious Williams (5-11, 210) are two of the smallest linebackers in the SEC, but they make up for a lack of size with speed, quickness and sure tackling.

Auburn end Stanley McClover (6-2, 255) leads the SEC with four forced fumbles and is tied with teammate Quentin Groves (6-3, 239) for third with 7.5 sacks.

But the biggest stars on defense are in the secondary. Cornerback Carlos Rogers has been outstanding in coverage and tackling; safety Junior Rosegreen had four of his five interceptions against UT. His other interception ended LSU's final drive in a 10-9 Auburn victory.

"I've been a defensive coach all my life," Tuberville said. "I take a lot of pride in how we play defense - how we play the run, how we don't give up big plays.

"To be as consistent as we've been this year has been one of my most enjoyable moments."