Auburn’s season commendable, but not satisfying

Above all else, one thing should be clear: Losing five games should not be acceptable at Auburn.

The schedule was tough. The injuries were debilitating. The season could have derailed after a 1-2 start and turned really ugly.

The fact that Auburn recovered well enough to win six straight games, ascend back into the top 10 at one point and earn a Sugar Bowl berth against Oklahoma is commendable.

Commendable, but not satisfying.

The Tigers ended the season with a 35-19 loss Monday night to the Sooners. That dropped Auburn’s record to 8-5, a one-game improvement over last season.

The trend is not encouraging, yet rather familiar. Since winning 19 of the first 22 games under Gus Malzahn as head coach, Auburn is 16-15. Such has been Auburn’s trend in the post-Pat Dye era. Terry Bowden won his first 20 games, then tied Georgia, then went 27-17 before quitting in the middle of the 1998 season. Gene Chizik went 22-5 in his first two seasons and 11-14 over his next two seasons.

I’m not suggesting Malzahn should be fired, even if the idea of Chip Kelly suddenly being unattached is intriguing. But going 8-5 shouldn’t be acceptable at Auburn.

Forget the disclaimer many people attach to bowl games: that they’re meaningless exhibitions for everyone not invited to the College Football Playoff. They’re real games that help define a team’s season. Contrary to what many people believe, coaches approach them with one goal and that’s to win.

Penn State, the first team left out of the playoff, played with passion in its 52-49 Rose Bowl loss to Southern Cal.

For Auburn, playing in the Sugar Bowl was an unexpected privilege. Four-loss teams aren’t accustomed to playing in one of the traditional major bowls. But the SEC’s contract with the Sugar Bowl and the unusual parity within the conference meant somebody with four losses would have to represent the SEC.

That’s not to diminish the accomplishment, just to keep it in perspective.

Auburn was a pretty decent team that at times could be pretty good when everyone was healthy. Few teams could lose their starting quarterback and top running back, as Auburn did with Sean White and Kamryn Pettway late in the season, and not feel their loss. But the huge disparity in the Tigers when at full strength and with two offensive starters out underscores how fragile the program has become.

They were poorly prepared to absorb the losses, because Gus Malzahn has done a poor job of recruiting depth at quarterback. Jeremy Johnson and John Franklin III are poor fits for the offense. So is White, for that matter, because his lack of size makes him susceptible to injury when he runs the football.

The question is: where is the program heading? Will it get better, worse or just tread water?

“Obviously, right now I’ve got a locker room full of disappointed players,” Malzahn said after the Sugar Bowl loss. “But I think we were picked next to last in the SEC. We played a very tough schedule. We had some injuries. Probably the best way (to describe the season) is we overcame a lot of obstacles to get here. The future is very bright. We’re losing some great leadership, but we’ve got a bunch of talented young guys.”

Signing Jarrett Stidham, the Baylor transfer, will make Auburn stronger at quarterback – if he’s as good as advertised. As I wrote once before, that’s a big “if.”

But if Malzahn is going to sustain success, the program has to be stronger than depending on one player. Because what if that player doesn’t pan out – as the case with Johnson and Franklin – or if he gets injured as White did? Then what? Then you find yourself in Malzahn’s position, trying to spin a five-loss season into being something more satisfying than it really was.

This story was originally published January 3, 2017 at 7:13 PM with the headline "Auburn’s season commendable, but not satisfying."