Guerry Clegg: It is much too early to write off Auburn’s season

Maybe the doomsayers will be right. Maybe the Auburn Tigers are in for another lackluster season, which will lead to the end of Gus Malzahn’s meteoric reign.

If nothing else, the schedule is once again brutal. No one else in college football opens and concludes its regular season with last year’s national championship teams. And Clemson might turn out to be Auburn’s third-best opponent behind LSU and Alabama.

Think about that for a minute. Auburn could, at least theoretically, be the fourth best team in the country and still lose three games. And that doesn’t even include having to play Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Arkansas and Georgia, all very much Top 25 candidates.

Given that, it’s easy to see why many folks offering predictions are pegging Auburn to finish 6-6. Indeed, if that turns out to be the case, there will be plenty of time to dissect what went wrong and what should be done after the season to fix it.

Now is not that time. Now is the time for hope. Maybe not unrealistic dreams of playing for a national championship kind of hope. But hope for a season with more ups than downs, a season that provides its own measure of satisfaction.

Why not?

Yes, the Tigers have quarterback concerns and must replace both offensive tackles from last year and have lost their top three running backs from last season. And the receivers have yet to distinguish themselves, and that’s assuming someone can get the ball to them. That’s just the offense. They have their third defensive coordinator in as many seasons.

Admittedly, that hardly sounds like the prelude to optimism on my part.

But I refuse to write off a season before it even kicks off. Every game on that merciless schedule is winnable. Think not? Consider last year’s Iron Bowl. Alabama dominated the game statistically, as it should have. But as late as the fourth quarter, the Tigers trailed by only six points.

If that Auburn team could play the eventual national champions so competitively, can’t this Auburn team do even better?

So much of college football is perception, especially in preseason. The whole championship process is predicated on perception.

Two years ago, the Tigers were considered national championship contenders. Not even a late-season collapse in that 2014 season was enough to completely erode their national credibility.

Not much has changed materially since then. In terms of perception, not much is still the same.

Malzahn was once an offensive genius. Now he is seen as a gimmick coach whose lack of college experience has finally caught up with him. Losing 11 of 13 games against Power Five conference opponents that finished with winning records will do a number on your reputation.

So now Malzahn is likely coaching for his job security, despite the offseason extension given to him by his boss, Jay Jacobs, Auburn’s athletics director.

Yes, Auburn has flaws. There are no perfect teams in college football. Maybe that’s stating the obvious, but sometimes even the obvious isn’t all that, well, obvious.

Even the most talented teams sometimes fail to realize their potential. Case in point from 2015: Ohio State. The Buckeyes had five players drafted in the first 20 picks, 12 drafted overall, plus they had three players sign as undrafted free agents. They have one of the best coaches of all time. And yet the Buckeyes struggled against the likes of Northern Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota before finally losing to Michigan State and blowing their chance to repeat as national champions.

The Tigers could be stronger than they were last season at virtually every position group other than running back – and maybe even including running back. A healthier, stronger and more experienced Kerryon Johnson might be better than Peyton Barber, Jovon Robinson and Roc Thomas were. He’s certainly faster. Whoever wins the quarterback job will have to be an improvement over last season. And the defense could be good enough to give the offense a chance.

Malzahn is just as smart as he was when the Tigers won the national championship behind Cam Newton and just as smart as he was when Nick Marshall led them to within two minutes of another title three years ago. Contrary to what some critics think, opposing coaches haven’t “figured out” his spread offense. If there was any failing among the coaches, it was the fact that they didn’t push the tempo as they had done so well before. They have had the whole offseason to correct that problem.

If one of the quarterbacks can move the offense, the Tigers could surprise some people.

This story was originally published August 16, 2016 at 8:52 PM with the headline "Guerry Clegg: It is much too early to write off Auburn’s season."