5. Auburn is staying on-brand
It’s fitting that the Auburn Tigers won the way they did on Saturday. In the season that Gus Malzahn takes back play-calling and is coaching for his job, of course the Tigers will be unpredictable, inconsistent, volatile, and heart-stopping.
The signature of his tenure has been this combination of excitement and wackiness. Malzahn’s crowning achievement, the 2013 season that featured the Miracle at Jordan-Hare and the Kick Six, was the epitome of this formula.
The difference this year? Take everything from the past, and add the cherry on top of a freshman quarterback. It’s even better when you consider that Bo Nix, while a freshman, seems to have the confidence of a senior.
This Auburn team faces a brutal schedule, and while there’s a ton of post-win excitement, 8-4 is still a realistic result from this season. Fortunately for fans of college football, while Auburn may still be somewhat pedestrian in record, they’ll be anything but boring or standard.