AUBURN, Ala. -- In case you haven't heard, there's a new quarterback at Auburn that's pretty good. His name is Jarrett Stidham. Maybe you've heard of him?

In all seriousness, Stidham looks like he's going to be a star for the Tigers. The former Baylor quarterback hasn't won the starting job yet but exceeded expectations this spring and put on a show in Saturday’s spring game. If you follow Auburn and haven't heard about him by now, then you've been living under a rock for the past three months.

However, that hype around Stidham -- which is only getting started -- has taken some of the attention away from the Auburn defense. Their effort this spring was not lost on head coach Gus Malzahn, though.

The first thing Malzahn mentioned in his post-spring-game press conference wasn't Stidham. It was the first-team defense.

"Overall, I think it was a very good day," Malzahn said to open. "The weather was great. Our kids got a chance to get out in front of the crowd and play football. Really what stood out to me is our No. 1 defense. When our starters were out there, I thought they had an excellent day."

Then it happened again. Malzahn was asked about how the team, both the offense and defense, improved from the first practice of spring to the last. His response?

"Our defense, our first defense, has really taken a step forward," he said. "They’ve been a handful. Today is really the first time we've gone 1s against 2s and 2s against 1s. It's been 1s against 1s, and it's been a battle. Overall, I would say the defense has probably got the best of the offense as far as overall spring, but you can tell that both groups are taking that step forward."

As impressive as the first-team offense looked Saturday, scoring on five of their six drives in the first half with three touchdowns and two field goals, it's telling that the first-team defense has gotten the better of that offense when the two went head-to-head this spring.

The players can back up their coach, too.

"With [Stidham] coming in, we knew there was going to be a lot of hype around him," Auburn linebacker Deshaun Davis said after the game. "As defensive guys, what we tried to do every day was just go out and win. And I feel like every day this spring, we went out and won."

It's easy to forget, especially because of how the season finished, but this is an Auburn defense that earned back some respect last fall. The Tigers had struggled the two seasons prior, finishing outside the top 50 nationally in scoring defense. They finished No. 7 in the country last season under first-year coordinator Kevin Steele, allowing just 17.1 points per game.

With Steele returning for his second season and seven starters back on defense, the players are confident that they can improve on last season even though top defensive linemen Carl Lawson and Montravius Adams have moved on and will likely be playing on Sundays this fall.

"That's the standard," Davis said. "Last year's defense was last year's defense. Everybody signed the papers when we first got in that we weren't going to take a step back in any categories. We were seventh in scoring last year. We've got to get to sixth. If we're seventh again this year, then we failed as a defensive unit. That's just our mindset."

"The sky's the limit for us," added veteran safety Tray Matthews. "Everyone wants to get after it. Everyone is hungry on the defense. The defensive line is just as good as they were last year, to be honest with you."

Matthews might have a point when it comes to the defensive line. Lawson led Auburn in tackles for loss and sacks last season, but senior Paul James III, who missed the majority of last season with a knee injury, looks more than capable of taking his spot. Playing the same position as Lawson, James finished with three tackles for loss and a sack in the first half of the spring game.

As for replacing Adams, the Tigers have plenty of depth inside with the likes of Dontavius Russell, Derrick Brown, Andrew Williams, Antwuan Jackson Jr., and even former five-star Byron Cowart -- who moved from end to tackle this spring.

There's also Marlon Davidson, one of the SEC's top defensive ends in 2017.

Maybe the sky is the limit for this Auburn defense. We'll see. But after an impressive spring, it's about time they start to get a little recognition.