We're not here to overreact about the Auburn Tigers' disspiriting 45-21 loss to the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge on Saturday. However, we are realists and understand the nature of college football as a business. While Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn should have fantastic job security right now, we can't help but wonder just what may occur if Saturday's debacle runs downhill into a complete 2015 season disaster. With that being said, here's 3 Reasons Why Gus Malzahn Could Be On The Hot Seat At The End Of This Year.
1. Jeremy Johnson experiment
This isn't Gus Malzahn's fault per se, but the Heisman hype bubble has pretty much burst for Jeremy Johnson after a third-straight shaky outing to start the season. Johnson wasn't nearly as boxed in during Saturday's LSU blowout as he was during the team's Jacksonville State escape last week, but he was still unable to do anything of note against the Tigers either through the air or on designed run plays. College football is a quarterback's game and coaches' futures tend to rest on just how "their guys" fare. If Johnson continues to flatten out and Auburn faces a comedown like they did at the end of last year, expect rumblings to emerge about Malzahn from the corners of the AU fan base.
2. A run defense disaster
LSU gashed the Tigers' front seven all day long on Saturday, including 228 yards on 19 carries to go with three touchdowns for Leonard Fournette. Former Florida head coach Will Muschamp was brought in to fix the defensive woes that plagued the Tigers for long stretches of the 2014 season. It hasn't happened. If this trend continues, there's a chance the athletic department could look at Malzahn closely and wonder just what could happen if a defensive-minded coach like Muschamp had full control of the reins.
3. A potential full-season letdown
Here's the problem with a game like Saturday's -- major blowouts at the hands of in-conference opponents can lead to a snowball effect for teams that start to get into their own heads and write off their conference title (and national title) hopes prematurely. Auburn can easily learn from this game and vault back into the CFP discussion with a major win streak from here on out. Or, they could stumble to a mid-level bowl berth and watch the microscope start to focus on Gus Malzahn's entire body of work with the Tigers.
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