Prattville's Derrick Moncrief gets mixed reviews in first start

AUBURN – The production was there for Derrick Moncrief in his starting debut, but so too were the mistakes for the Auburn safety in Saturday's win over Ole Miss.

Moncrief made a career-high six tackles and forced a fumble in his first career start, filling in at boundary safety with Josh Holsey coming out after a poor outing against South Carolina and Johnathan Ford moving from boundary to field.

The Prattville native did blow a couple of assignments though, one leading to a touchdown – a 10-yard pass from Bo Wallace to Laquon Treadwell with 6:02 to go in the second quarter.

"The every first (passing) touchdown was Moncrief," Auburn defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson said. "They threw the little scramble route over there in the flat on a late throw and then later on we got one to the tight end up the seam and that was Holsey again."

Moncrief was called for one of two late hits by the Auburn defense. On the first play of the second half, Cody Core 23 yards on a reverse and was hit late by Moncrief.

"The safeties busted a pickup on the reverse," Johnson said. "They should have been there on the reverse. It was just a mixture of things. The communication's got to improve. It's things we've practiced and the players have got to function."

Moncrief smacked the ball out of Wallace's hands on a critical fumble midway through the fourth quarter, which Kris Frost recovered.

The 6-foot-2 218 pound Moncrief knew his performance could have been better.

"I felt like I played alright," Moncrief said. "I could have been better. I missed a couple of tackles."

Moncrief, Holsey and Ford was a three-man rotation at safety, with true freshman Stephen Roberts also getting reps. Communication remains a concern after a second straight opponent was very successful throwing the ball against the Tigers.

"All those guys have played better at times and played more consistent, they've just got to follow through," Johnson said. "They had a great week of practice last week but you have to do it on the stage when you get out there."