Malzahn to be tested, but will have geen light with AU offense
By Harry King
Wednesday, December 31, 2008 11:09 AM CST
LITTLE ROCK — There isn’t one reference to offense in the bio of Auburn head coach Gene Chizik, and that’s a green light for Gus Malzahn.
As Auburn’s new offensive coordinator, Malzahn should be without shackles. An innovator during his 14 years as a high school coach, Malzahn and Houston Nutt butted heads during the year that the former Springdale coach answered to the title of Arkansas’ offensive coordinator and that conflict played some part in the departure of Nutt who is now involved in calling plays at Ole Miss.
During his two years at Tulsa, Malzahn’s offense recorded gaudy numbers, but there is no way the no-huddle, hurry-up spread will be as effective in the Southeastern Conference as it was in Conference USA. Tulsa is second in the nation in total offense, averaging 565 yards per game. While putting together a 10-3 season, Tulsa beat conference opponents North Texas, SMU, UTEP, Rice, UAB and Marshall, who were 119-118-115-114-106-101 in total defense out of the 119 schools in the Bowl Subdivision.
Five of the top 36 defensive teams are permanent opponents on Auburn’s schedule and five others are part of the Tigers’ rotation from the Eastern Division.
It is true that Malzahn should have better players at Auburn than he did at Tulsa, but it is also true that defense is a priority in the SEC. Tulsa’s inability to run the ball at critical times against the not-so-stout Arkansas defense cost the Golden Hurricane dearly in the 30-23 loss in Fayetteville.
Chizik called Malzahn “one of the great offensive minds in college football,” and the hiring might sidetrack some Auburn fans who have been vocal about their favorite school employing a head coach who was 5-19 at Iowa State. A sidebar for Arkansas fans is whether Malzahn’s reputation in the state will help Auburn add Arkies to the roster.
In his glowing endorsement of Malzahn, Chizik pointed out that the man’s offenses have been successful running and throwing. This year, Tulsa attempted 397 passes and ran the ball 610 times — almost a perfect 60-40 split in favor of the run. The passing game produced 4,033 yards, 720 more than the running game.
Ironically, Malzahn’s move to Auburn will unite him with Kodi Burns, a dual threat at Fort Smith who was recruited by Arkansas. During the process, Burns had high praise for Malzahn.
Burns was not particularly productive in his second season at Auburn, but the play-calling boards that Malzahn uses on the sidelines take much of the decision-making off the quarterback and that could free up Burns.
It was former Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles who told The AP early in 2007 that Malzahn’s offense won’t work in the SEC unless the quarterback can run the ball. At the time, Broyles noted the success of the spread, no-huddle offense at West Virginia and cited the running ability of quarterback Pat White, who recently became the first quarterback to win four bowl games.
A year earlier, defensive coordinator Joe Kines, in Little Rock as a Broyles Award finalist, was a prime candidate for a couple of questions about Malzahn’s offense.
“New things are old things circled back by,” said Kines, Arkansas’ interim head coach for 10 games in 1992.
“It doesn’t matter how you package it,” he said. “At the end of every play, one of two things is going to happen. Those guys in the stripe shirts are going to throw their hands up or you’re going to tackle somebody, so tackling is the most important fundamental.”
Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media’s Arkansas News Bureau.
