The man who led the Auburn Tigers' offense to a national championship in 2010 has led the 2013 Tigers to a 9-1 record so far.
1. Gus Malzahn is a walking win machine.
Auburn is 9-1 (5-1) and the second-highest ranked team in the SEC at No. 7. And that's not like Texas Tech and Miami being in the Top 10 over the course of the year; this is a No. 7 ranking in November.
It's not even particularly surprising to Auburn fans, who saw Malzahn coordinate the Tigers' offense to a national championship in 2010 under head coach Gene Chizik. Malzahn would high-tail to Arkansas State for a year, and Auburn bottomed out badly as soon as he left.
Consider this: With Malzahn as his offensive coordinator, Chizik was 30-10 with a national championship. Without Malzahn (including two years as Iowa State's head coach), Chizik was 8-28. Yep.
2. He might have the most innovative rushing game mind in college football today.
If you want to understand how difficult it is to prepare for a Malzahn-led offense, carve out an hour (no seriously, give yourself a full hour, minimum) to read this 2010 primer of Malzahn's offense on our Clemson site Shakin The Southland.
Here's a taste.
The Power O and the Trap, along with the Iso, are plays I've covered here specifically geared to the single-back/I-formation offense that we run at Clemson. The main difference in Malzahn's system is that it's run from shotgun with 1 or 2 backs (or an H-back).
In the Power O play, the backside Guard pulls out and hits the playside B-gap to hit the first threat he sees to the play. It is generally run to the 1-technique's side (Nose Guard).
The Power play run against a 4-2 front with a TE used to kick out the End. The RB is meant to hit the B-gap as soon as the pulling Guard is through.
That's one play. Oh, and it's three years old, and Malzahn has adapted it to defense's adaptations since then. Good luck.
3. He has an army of imitators.
They won't let us take our signs in bc we're in the Coke Zero section! The GusBus goes Hollywood #GameDaySignspic.twitter.com/I3ddhzVpsm
— Eric Dunlap (@eric_mark) November 16, 2013
Well, two men can be an army, right?