After each of Auburn’s first two preseason scrimmages, head coach Hugh Freeze said it was hard to be happy and this is why: if one part of your team succeeded, does that mean it came at the expense of another?

So throughout the preseason, Freeze has some cautious optimism surrounding a running back room he and Auburn coaches believe is quite deep. Whether it’s Damari Alston breaking off long touchdown runs in the scrimmage, an impressive true freshman in Jeremiah Cobb and Jarquez Hunter leading the way as Auburn’s top running back, there’s a lot to be excited from what this group has shown in August.

But they’re doing it all against Auburn’s own defense. Does that mean Auburn has a run defense that isn’t going to be able to keep up come the games that actually count?

Freeze isn’t sure.

“I don’t know, I honestly don’t,” Freeze said. “We’ll find out more Saturday. Are we effective running the ball against other opponents? Or has our defense made us look that good? I think when you start getting into a game week and you start game planning, you figure out this is what we’re going to try to do. Hopefully we’ll be in the right spots and play well on both sides. That’s the hope.”

Auburn’s rush defense last season was ranked 96th out of 131 FBS teams in terms of rushing yards allowed per game. Based on the depth chart Auburn released Monday, Marcus Harris and Jayson Jones will once again be Auburn’s starters on the defensive interior. Auburn brought in reinforcements like Justin Rogers and Lawrence Johnson through the transfer portal to help defend the run on the interior. New faces on the edges including starters Elijah McAllister at jack linebacker and Mosiah Nasili-Kite at defensive end will add help, too.

There are new pieces at linebacker in Austin Keys coming from Ole Miss and Larry Nixon III from North Texas and expected improvement from Cam Riley along with a strong fall camp from Eugene Asante.

So does a new Ron Roberts defensive scheme that historically has prioritized shutting down an opponent’s run game first.

“He’s one of the OGs of the game in terms of defense,” Asante said of Roberts. “His defenses have been proven to be fundamentally sound for years. I think the biggest thing is that it’s an aggressive style of defense. We’re going to try to get downhill. We’re going to try to come down in our gaps and basically cause havoc on their side of the ball.”

Auburn hopes the combination of all this will improve the run defense.

Results in Auburn’s scrimmages would suggest that hasn’t happened so far. History doesn’t do any favors for the defense either.

Tight end Luke Deal is one of Auburn’s better run blockers, and from what he’s seen, he’ll give the credit to his side of the ball.

“We’ve got such a talented room that I would lean on the side that we’ve got a really good run game and we’ve seen production in the past,” Deal said. “I’m excited to see how that works out against another defense. Hopefully, our defense stops the run too against UMass.”

Despite losing Tang Bigsby to the NFL after last season, Auburn’s running back room was able to improve its depth through the growth of Alston this fall and the addition of Brian Battie from USF. Sean Jackson has shown flashes throughout camp, too.

Whether a deeper group necessarily means a better group remains to be seen. Deal is confident in the talent and flexibility to rotate options in that room.

And Auburn’s players believe the running game success and defending the run aren’t mutually exclusive.

“Like I said, we’ve been battling it out all offseason, going at each other,” right guard Kam Stutts said. “I think our run game is going to be really good too. At Auburn, having a good run defense and being able to run the ball has always been the staple and what we want to be able to do. I think it will be good.”

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]