Auburn fans remember 2008. In fact, how could they forget?
Looking for more offensive oomph following a 9-4 season in 2007, Tommy Tuberville hired known spread guru Tony Franklin to inject some life into a sputtering offense that lacked creativity and quick-strike ability — and was as predictable as the morning sunrise.
One of Franklin’s first moves as the Tigers new OC was to offer a scholarship to quarterback Chris Todd.
Todd originally signed with pass-happy Texas Tech out of high school and spent two years with the Red Raiders, including a redshirt freshman season. But sensing he wasn’t likely to play due to Graham Harrell and Taylor Potts — two highly productive collegiate signal callers — in front of him, he transferred to Hutchinson Community College in Kansas, where Franklin recruited him while he was the OC at Troy, then Auburn.
But Franklin’s offense didn’t work out and he was fired after seven games. A few weeks later, the Tuberville era, which lasted 10 seasons, came to a crashing end after the Tigers finished 5-7.
But times, they were a changin’ on the Plains.
After a lengthy search, athletic director Jay Jacobs — in a surprising move — hired Iowa State coach Gene Chizik, a former defensive coordinator under Tuberville from 2002-04, to take over the football program.
Chizik then hit a home run by hiring Gus Malzahn to run his offense.
Malzahn was a highly successful high school head coach in his home state of Arkansas for a number of years. He led Shiloh Christian to back-to-back state championships in 1998 and 1999 before taking over at powerhouse Springdale in 2001.
While there, Malzahn led the Bulldogs to two state championship game appearances and one state title (2005) before accepting the offensive coordinator position under Houston Nutt at Arkansas in December of the same year. In his only year with the Razorbacks, Malzahn’s offensive philosophy was a big reason why the Hogs won the SEC West and played Florida for a league title.
His hurry-up no-huddle offense took the conference by storm, and his “Wildcat” formation became a national craze not only in college, but also in the NFL. That year, Arkansas’ running game was one of the nation’s best, and it helped tailbacks Darren McFadden and Felix Jones become eventual first round picks in the NFL Draft.
But Malzahn would stay in Arkansas for just one year due to rumored rifts between he and Nutt. That would lead him to Tulsa, where he would call plays for Todd Graham, who is the current head coach at Arizona State.
In his first year as OC for the Golden Hurricane, Malzahn continued his accent as one of the nation’s rising coaching stars. Tulsa became the first team in NCAA history to have a 5,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard rusher and three 1,000-yard receivers in a single season and it led the nation in total yards per game.
In Year Two under Malzahn, Tulsa finished second to only Oklahoma in scoring offense, but it was the country’s most balanced offensive attack, ranking fifth in rushing and ninth in passing, which opened the door for his hiring at Auburn — which bring us to back to Todd.
Under the guidance of Malzahn, Todd, who lacked significant arm strength due to shoulder issues but won the team’s starting QB job in 2009, completed 60.4 percent of his passes and threw for 2,612 yards with just six interceptions. Todd’s 22 TD passes surpassed the legendary Pat Sullivan for the most in single-season history.
In addition to breaking Sullivan’s record, Todd connected with wide receiver Terrell Zachary on a 93-yard touchdown strike, which at the time was the longest offensive play in Auburn football history.
Cam Newton would best that mark a year later when he connected with receiver Emory Blake on a 94-yard scoring pass during Auburn’s national championship-winning season, but Malzahn’s use of Todd, who was limited on how far he could throw due to his shoulder, was absolutely brilliant — and it began the most impressive offensive run in Auburn history.
In 2010, Malzahn proved his mettle as a coordinator by helping Auburn to its first national title since 1957. His play-calling was instrumental in Newton winning the Heisman Trophy and AU leading the league in scoring (42.6 ppg), rushing offense (287.1 ypg), total offense (497.7 ypg) and pass efficiency (186.8). The Tigers also set school records for points, total offense, and rushing yards and scored 50 points six times, also a school record.
And sure, Newton was a major part of that equation. He’s one of the best players to ever play in college. But the development of Philip Lutzenkirchen, Michael Dyer, Blake, Kodi Burns, Darvin Adams, Terrell Zachery and Onterio McCalebb and a talented offensive line, were also major reasons why the Tigers hoisted the crystal ball.
Following the 2011 season, Malzahn accepted his first collegiate head coaching job at Arkansas State and led the Red Wolves to the Sun Belt title. His stay in Jonesboro would be short-lived however.
After the Tigers finished the 2012 season 3-9, Malzahn returned to Auburn as its head coach after the firing of Chizik. In his first year on the Plains, Malzahn sparked the greatest turnaround in college football history as the Tigers, with Nick Marshall at quarterback, returned to the national championship game (where it lost a thriller to Florida State) following an amazing season of comebacks and unbelievable finishes. Once again, the offense was the story.
But the following season, after opening the year 5-0, Auburn lost to No. 3 Mississippi State in Starkville for its first loss. Malzahn’s troops then rebounded to beat South Carolina (42-35) at home and No. 4 Ole Miss (35-31) in dramatic fashion on the road before returning home to take on unranked Texas A&M.
But the strangest thing happened in that game against the Aggies. The Tigers, and their head coach, seemed to lose the magic. After having two opportunities to win the game in the waning moments, Auburn sputtered two excellent scoring chances away and lost a heartbreaker 41-38.
The following week, Georgia waxed the Tigers in Athens 34-7. Two weeks later, Alabama downed the Tigers 55-44 in the highest-scoring Iron Bowl in history. In the bowl game, the Tigers lost to Wisconsin in overtime after having a chance to tie the game on a field goal.
It started a trend that continues to this present day.
The 2015 season was almost a microcosm of the way the 2014 campaign ended. Despite the fact that highly-touted QB Jeremy Johnson failed to live up to his enormous hype, which left Malzahn without a reliable, big-play performer at the most important position in his offense, the Tigers, with the exception of LSU, Auburn’s upcoming opponent, were in pretty much every game they played. But somehow, someway Malzahn’s team found a way to lose.
Now, just like a year ago, Malzahn is struggling to find a trigger man for his offense. Sean White, who was named the starter prior to the Clemson game, is a capable passer and has played well at times during the Tigers first three games, but he is not the dual-threat Malzahn needs for his O to be successful.
John Franklin III, who has blazing speed and looks to be the type of athlete needed to run Malzahn’s zone-read attack, has yet to be given a shot to see what he can do on an extended basis.
And all the while, the Auburn offense, which is averaging 261.7 yards per game (15th nationally) on the ground, continues to struggle to score points, much like it did a year ago, despite the talent at running back and receiver, which brings me back to 2008.
That year, Auburn, despite having a strong defense and kicking game, was a mess on offense primarily because Tuberville didn’t let Franklin run his scheme and its shortcomings at quarterback. And ironically, this year’s start is mirroring the one that got Tubs fired back then.
And did you know that the last time an Auburn defense allowed less than 20 points per game? Give up? It was eight years ago in 2008. And through three games in 2016, Kevin Steele’s defense is allowing right at — you guessed it — 20 points per game.
But the bottom line in all this is winning. The Tigers are 2-10 in their last 12 SEC games and the last time they beat a conference foe at home was Steve Spurrier’s Gamecocks in 2014.
So the question now becomes: Will Malzahn, one of the better offensive minds in the college game over the last 10 years, suffer the same fate as Tuberville in 2008 after a number of impressive accomplishments as a coordinator and head coach?
The answer to that will likely become clearer following the outcome against LSU. But there’s no doubt his back is against the wall. And time is running out for things to get turned around.