Auburn Football: 3 biggest disappointments from 2019 season

1. Gus Malzahn

In 2019, we saw Gus Malzahn once again do just enough to keep his job.

Now, this isn’t a slide asking for Malzahn to be fired, but there will be a few examples given on how the season could have ended differently if certain aspects had different outcomes.

As we mentioned in the previous slides, the quarterback battle and the play calling could have been handled differently. There were also individual games that showed how good of a coach Malzahn is, if he could find consistency.

The date? November 30, 2019. The location? Jordan-Hare Stadium. The Alabama Crimson Tide has just missed a field goal that would have tied the game at 48 late in the fourth quarter. Auburn has the ball on fourth down, and is getting ready to punt the ball away, giving Alabama another opportunity to score. But, Auburn decides to line up their punter at wide receiver, seeming to break the Alabama return team. The Tide has too many men on the field, resulting in a penalty and first down for Auburn, giving them the 48-45 win.

I mean, who comes up with that? Malzahn does.

Sadly, that’s the same guy who continues to run the same screen and slant patterns hoping it’ll work every time.

We know how dangerous Malzahn can be at coaching, I just wonder how different the season would have gone if he kept up the spirit of the Alabama game in every game.