Size no measure of Robenson Therezie's importance

AUBURN – In a series of just four plays, Robenson Therezie showed exactly how important he is to the Auburn defense.

Despite giving up nine inches and more than 40 pounds to Hunter Henry, Therezie pushed through the Arkansas tight end to lay a huge hit on Brandon Allen, sending the ball fluttering into the air and eventually into the hands of Jermaine Whitehead, who ran it back 33 yards for a touchdown to give Auburn a 35-21 lead late in the third quarter.

"It was just great effort. He broke through. We'd run that thing three times before and nobody else got that kind of pressure off it, he did," Auburn defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson said. "A big play in the game at the time, the game was getting kind of stagnant. I thought that was a huge play when he hit that kid and caused that interception."

Johnson said the 5-foot-9 212 pound Therezie had the choice of two different places to blitz from on the play, and Arkansas' blocking scheme forced him inside against the 6-foot-6 255 pound Henry.

"He's a real physical dude. You couldn't tell he's 5-9, 205," said Whitehead, who is also Therezie's roommate. "He believes he weighs bigger than that. He plays bigger than that. Hitting has always been a part of his game. … He's an asset to our team and asset to his position and our defense."

Three plays later on the ensuing Arkansas drive, Therezie undercut Razorbacks running back Jonathan Williams after he caught a pass, knocking the ball free and although Williams recovered, Auburn's defense forced a punt and Arkansas never got back in the game.

In less than three minutes, Therezie, Auburn's Defensive Player of the Year last season, played a pivotal role in changing what was a 28-21 game to setting the Auburn offense up to take a 38-21 lead with 9:55 to go before the 1:28 lightning delay.

"He's an impact player, there's no doubt," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "Last year he made a lot of big plays for us."

All this from a player who wasn't even cleared to play until roughly 19 hours before kickoff.

Therezie, who has not been available for interviews since A-Day, was cleared of the "eligibility issues" he was facing at approximately 7:30 p.m. Friday night and did not practice much with the first team defense during the week.

"When he found out he could play, I was just so happy for him," Whitehead said. "When he's out there you can expect something big from him."

Johnson is thrilled to finally have Therezie and Justin Garrett on the field at the same time at the "star" safety position. In his first start, Garrett, who took a medical redshirt after suffering two foot injuries last season, had four tackles, broke up a pass and had a quarterback hurry.

"I feel really good we've got that kind of depth at that position," Johnson said. "It makes you feel good that if you lose one of them for a week or two, you don't miss a beat."