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Auburn defensive back Ryan White (19) corners Texas A&M running back Trey Williams (3) during the first quarter Saturday, Oct. 19, 2013, at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

-- The role

Ryan White

had to fill on Saturday against Texas A&M was a role no defensive back wants to find himself playing against the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and the nation's third-ranked offense.

Forced to scramble after key secondary piece

Josh Holsey

went down with a knee injury in practice Thursday, Auburn's coaches asked White to move from his natural position, cornerback, to boundary safety.

Without any prior experience.

"The first time I played it was in the game," White said. "All I had was a walk-through. I worked on it all day (Friday), tried to get my reads down, make sure I knew what I was doing."

Auburn's secondary coaches,

Charlie Harbison

and

Melvin Smith

, moved White into Holsey's role as the Tigers' deep safety primarily to let safeties

Ryan Smith

and

Jermaine Whitehead

, who had prior experience in the dime, take over that tough role against the Aggies.

"That was the big key with Josh going down," safety

Ryan Smith

said. "He had to make a change and move without having a day of practice. We just needed him to go out and play ball."

White had to learn everything on the fly without any prior experience.

In his time at Auburn, White has only played cornerback.

"Ryan White did a magnificent job of picking up how to play the boundary safety," defensive coordinator

Ellis Johnson

said. "I think we had one busted coverage and one where he got out of position a little bit -- played the right assignment but wasn't in the right place leverage-wise. I really give him a lot of credit."

Before kickoff, White wasn't nervous.

But he did feel out of place.

"I was just anxious, and just wanting to feel comfortable," White said. "Being in a new spot, in a big game, on the road, I just wanted to do the best I could."

White made five tackles against Texas A&M, but his biggest play of the day came late in the first quarter with the Aggies driving and threatening to take a 21-10 lead early.

Flushed from the pocket, Manziel evaded several rushers and started to make a move to the line of scrimmage.

All week long, the coaches had told the Tigers' defensive backs to expect Manziel to throw it on the move.

"I looked to his first target, No. 13, and I saw that Chris Davis had him locked up," White said." I looked backside, where I think Whitehead was, and he likes to go to 84 second. I saw Manziel look that way, and I just followed his eyes."

Manziel stopped and fired a dart back across the middle, and White stepped in front, picked off the pass and ended Texas A&M's threat, sparking an Auburn offense that promptly drove 96 yards for a touchdown to take a 17-14 lead and signal the start of a shootout.

White has filled in ably for the Tigers before -- he started two games when

Chris Davis

was out with a sprained ankle earlier this year -- but this challenge was a little tougher.

"I'm glad I was there," White said. "I got my first career interception, and it was a big stop for us."

Not bad for somebody who'd never played the position before.