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After a huge win over LSU, Gus Malzahn is now 2-2 after a brutal stretch to start the season, and for the moment his hot seat has cooled.
Gus Malzahn can breathe a little easier this week after defeating number 17 LSU 18-13 on Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
It wasn’t a pretty win, but I think most Auburn fans are happy with the fact that Auburn is 2-2 after playing three ranked opponents.
A lot of people knew this was a do-or-die game for both Gus Malzahn and Les Miles, and after the loss that proved true as Les Miles was fired.
I don’t think Gus Malzahn would have been fired had we lost to LSU, but I don’t think he would have made it through the season.
It was imperative for Gus to come out of the first month of the season with at least two wins.
I thought the second win would come against Texas A&M, but instead it’s LSU who gives Auburn their second win of the season.
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After the game Malzahn decided to turn play-calling duties back over to offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee. I think this was a cowardice move by Gus Malzahn. This season is on him, and it feels like he’s looking to set Lashlee up to be the fall guy if the offense continues to struggle.
Despite the win over LSU, I think Gus Malzahn has a lot of work to do to keep his job at Auburn. That offense is still terrible, and turning play-calling duties over to Lashlee won’t change that fact.
Gus Malzahn still has to find a way to win eight games with several good teams left on the schedule.
After Louisiana-Monroe, the Tigers will face Mississippi State on the road and Arkansas at home. Those are games I considered easy wins for Auburn at the beginning of the season, but I don’t think there will be too many easy wins with this offense.
I still expect Gus Malzahn to pick up wins in all three of those games, and he needs to in order to get to eight wins.
Right now the only guaranteed wins on the schedule are Louisiana-Monroe, Vanderbilt and Alabama A&M. That means Gus Malzahn has to come up with three wins amongst Mississippi State, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Georgia and Alabama.
It’s very doable, but Gus Malzahn is far from being out of hot water. However, for the time being the seat has cooled down to a mild level of six.
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