Ole Miss Football: Auburn out-talents Rebels in Oxford

2. Auburn is a talented mess, again

From winning the SEC West to the hot seat, welcome to Gus Malzahn’s annual yo-yo effect. The embattled Auburn head coach has a knack for looking completely aloof only to pull things together when he absolutely has to and finding a way to beat Alabama. That traditional song and dance doesn’t look like it’s going to work this year.

Auburn started the year with legitimate national championship aspirations before suffering three losses in their first seven games. Malzahn has tried just about everything and found sporadic results. The defense has always been elite, but the offense has become more and more confusing as the year goes on.

Jarrett Stidham started the game and played the vast majority of the snaps, but backup quarterback Malik Willis was featured in a specific package. No Auburn receiver caught more than four passes, and the lone touchdown reception was thrown to running back JaTarvious Whitlow.

There’s little rhyme or reason to the Auburn offense, but they scored 30 points and won on the road in the SEC. They out-talented Ole Miss. That’s not something they can rely on every weekend.