In a season full of criticism, was 2019 a success or failure for the Auburn Tigers?
Gus Malzahn walked off the field in Jordan-Hare Stadium on the final Saturday of November as thousands of fans poured onto it. The ninth-ranked (tied) Tigers had just defeated No. 9 (tied) Alabama 48-45 in a wild Iron Bowl.
Any lingering doubts hanging over Malzahn’s job status were effectively squashed that November night. For the past two years, there has been frequent — almost constant — speculation regarding Malzahn’s status as Auburn’s head coach. The prevailing sentiment is that the only reason he wasn’t fired after last season was his expensive contract buyout: $31.725 million last year, now down to $26.625 million.
Had Auburn not defeated Alabama this season, the conversation surrounding this team heading into the Outback Bowl might sound much different.
Until the Iron Bowl, the ranked teams Auburn had beaten were Oregon, in the teams’ season opener, and Texas A&M, a team that finished outside the AP Top 25 and ended its regular season with a 50-7 shellacking at the hands of No. 1 LSU.
“I mean, you couldn’t write it any better,” senior receiver Sal Cannella, who caught a touchdown vs. the Crimson Tide, said. “The whole year has been a grind. We’ve had our ups and downs. This game is one that really matters. We knew that, and we had a good feeling about the year and this one. You can’t write that any better. It’s unbelievable. (Our) last game in Jordan-Hare, fans rushing the field, beating Alabama.”
To Auburn, beating Alabama certainly felt good. The Tigers derailed the Crimson Tide’s College Football Playoff hopes and relegated the defending national championship runner-ups to a non-New Year’s Six bowl.
Which begs the million-dollar question: Was Auburn’s 2019 season, which did not result in a playoff appearance or a New Year’s Six bowl, a success?
“When you look at this whole season, we knew it was going to be a gauntlet,” Malzahn said after the Tigers’ Iron Bowl win. “We played the toughest schedule in college football. Our guys hung in there. At times it was tough, they never flinched.”
A ‘gauntlet’ of a season
The season was a gauntlet: Auburn played in road games at LSU and No. 6 Florida, and opened the season on a neutral site against No. 7 Oregon, starting a true freshman at quarterback. That the Tigers are one win away from hitting double-digit wins for the third time in seven years should not be discounted.
A few of Auburn’s three losses could have been wins, too. The Tigers held LSU to its lowest point total all season (23 points) and nearly recovered an onside kick late inside Death Valley. They nearly pulled off a 21-point comeback at home against No. 5 Georgia, and looked destined to score if not for a badly misfired Bo Nix pass to Harold Joiner on fourth down.
Nix, named the AP SEC Freshman of the Year on Tuesday, improved as the season wore on. He still struggled against some of the better defenses on Auburn’s schedule, but that’s to be expected out of a true freshman facing one of the toughest schedules in the nation, according to ESPN’s FPI preseason rankings.
Nix threw for 2,366 yards and 15 touchdowns in his first year of action, setting numerous Auburn freshman records along the way.
“I’ve said it all along, he’s got something special to him,” Malzahn said after the Iron Bowl. “He’ll win a championship before he gets out of here. His leadership, the moment’s not too big.”
The moment was not too big in the Tigers’ regular-season finale, which unquestionably serves as a positive note to end a regular season full of criticisms. The Iron Bowl win, regardless of how the Outback Bowl vs. Minnesota plays out, will likely be what’s remembered most from Auburn’s season.
A ‘work in progress’
The season was not without its fair share of struggles.
The moment was too big in Nix’s first true road start at Florida, a game in which Auburn’s defense (a massive positive on the year) kept the score respectable by forcing some timely turnovers. Nix also struggled in losses to LSU and Georgia.
Malzahn said the Tigers offense was a “work in progress” following Auburn’s home opener in early September. He reiterated that point following the Georgia loss, with two games remaining on the Tigers’ regular season schedule.
Beneath the little mistakes was a team that came within one score of beating the fifth-ranked team in the nation, took LSU down to the wire in Baton Rouge and likely would’ve beaten Florida had the offense showed any pulse that miserably hot afternoon in Gainesville.
The defense, which was anything but a work in progress, shut down opponents all season until the Alabama game. The Tigers’ front seven imposed itself on nearly everybody. The secondary, even when it got torched by Alabama quarterback Mac Jones, forced two pick sixes that went a long way toward beating the Crimson Tide.
The offense finally found itself with 10 minutes left in its 10th game.
There’s no telling how different Malzahn’s offense will look now with offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kenny Dillingham hired by Florida State. Chad Morris’ hire to fill Dillingham’s spot is a promising one, given Morris’ track record as an offensive mind. Nix will be a sophomore next season, and will have a year of experience under his belt.
That alone could be enough to improve the offense, which will once again face a murderers’ row of opponents: Auburn travels to Georgia on Oct. 10, then closes its season with back-to-back games against LSU and Alabama.
Until then, though, the Tigers will always have this year’s Iron Bowl. And a renewed sense of optimism following a season full of criticism.
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This story was originally published December 16, 2019 at 6:00 AM.
