Alabama Football: Gus Malzahn folded on the Iron Bowl stage

There may again be a time when Auburn is a threat to Alabama football. That time is not now and it happening again is delusional as long as Gus is the top Tiger.

There are two very different ways of assessing the 2018 Iron Bowl. Either way requires the admission Alabama football in 2018 is miles beyond the Auburn Tigers. Not surprisingly, Auburn head coach, Gus Malzahn believes his generally young Auburn Tigers will bounce back big in 2019.

Those two different perspectives on the 2018 Iron Bowl are both centered on Malzahn. One is Gus did all that could be done to give his out-manned team a chance. The other is Gus looked adversity in the face – blinked and turned away.

Auburn fans faithful to Gus are in rapidly diminishing number. That group takes the Iron Bowl halftime score of 17-14 and credits Gus for putting his team in position to make a second-half upset.

Auburn AD, Allen Greene may or may not be shackled to a $32M buyout. Green cannot miss the avalanche of Auburn angst from other Auburn fans, driven by the awareness Gus cannot deliver a championship program. It has taken quite a while for the dissatisfied Auburn faithful to see Gus clearly. Long-heralded as an offensive Guru, Malzahn skillfully nurtured that label for years. What is worse for Auburn is that Gus believes it.

Gus Malzahn is a mediocre coach

Beyond any doubt, Gus Malzahn showed in the 2018 Iron Bowl he is not a top head coach, cannot develop quarterback talent and is quirkily, but stubbornly predictable. Credit Gus with a good call on the double pass that caused a missed assignment by the Alabama football defense. Otherwise, Malzahn hurt, more than helped his team.

Jarrett Stidham is a good example. Stidham has the physical tools to be a dangerous QB. He has a live arm and good touch on deep balls. After two seasons under Malzahn, Stidham has deteriorated into an ineffective passer. Against Alabama football, he never looked comfortable. He was antsy in the pocket despite having the best pass protection (against real defenses) Auburn provided all season. He threw errantly or too early or held the ball too long. Stidham is Malzahn’s latest of many  QB failures.

Malzahn never trusts QBs who are not legit dual threats. The ‘Gus Bus’ engine is powered by a run-first, and often, offense. For all the gadgets, to be successful, Gus must have a power (though RPO) rushing attack. Against the Alabama football defense, the Tigers could only average three yards-per-carry. But Gus did not deviate as Auburn ran the ball on 43 of 75 plays.

When Auburn can’t run effectively run and its QB is not playing with confidence, Gus must take every chance afforded him. Late in the first half Saturday, Malzahn sat on three timeouts and let time expire. He made no real effort to attack the Tide defense, despite having momentum in the game. He blinked – and turned away.

As the second half showed, the Tigers were never the same. A slim upset opportunity disappeared in the Alabama football, third-quarter onslaught.

Sideshow Carney?

Auburn fans with open eyes and minds should see Gus is a Sideshow carney. He cleverly built an offense a decade ago, predicated on not letting a defense substitute. When the rules were changed giving defenses a fair chance to sub, Gus’ offense was neutered. Once penalties began to be correctly called on offensive linemen too far downfield on pass plays, Gus’ offense became little more than a bag of gimmicks.

He loves those gimmicks. Many opposing coaches, particularly the Alabama football staff, love for Gus to resort to trick plays. Saturday afternoon, when Auburn needed less than four yards on a fourth down, Gus dialed up trickeration again. The bizarre formation fooled Alabama football, not a bit. Fundamentally defended, the Tide easily stopped the pass to the Tigers’ FG goal kicker.

No other play in Malzahn’s head coaching career better sums up Gus and the Auburn football program. Much ado about nothing.

A few sharp football minds believe the Auburn Tigers quit on Saturday, long before the fourth quarter elapsed. Gus Malzahn quit even earlier.

Alabama football fans will enjoy seeing Auburn’s SEC record over the past five seasons. It is 21-20. And Gus is now 0-9 as a head coach, on the road, against LSU, Georgia and Alabama.