If there was a more embattled coach than Gene Chizik before this season, that coach would have been in hiding. Chizik went from Iowa State, where fans weren’t sorry to see him go after a 5-19 mark, to Auburn, where fans weren’t crazy about seeing him arrive.
His athletic director, Jay Jacobs, was booed at the airport after securing the deal. Chizik appeared on national hot-seat lists before he coached his first game.
Yet Auburn may be the most surprising team this side of Seattle. Picked fourth or fifth in the SEC West with a major question at quarterback, Auburn’s 5-0 mark already matches last year’s win total.
Saturday’s win at Tennessee, plus one over a West Virginia team likely headed to a bowl, says this is legitimate. So does Sunday’s breakthrough in the Associated Press rankings at No. 17, a shocking feat considering the offensive mess Chizik inherited.
Auburn’s debate captain had more street cred last fall than Chris Todd. His quarterback rating of 55.33 at midseason earned first-year offensive coordinator Tony Franklin a pink slip and Todd a spot on the bench a week later.
But Chizik brought in coordinator Gus Malzahn to perfect a spread Franklin couldn’t. In the fall, Malzahn anointed Todd over Kodi Burns, who didn’t do much better when he replaced Todd last year.
Under Malzahn, Todd’s pass efficiency rating of 108.00 is 13th nationally. The Tigers’ offense has jumped from 302.9 yards per game to 512.8, its rushing from 137.5 to 253.8 and its scoring from 17.3 to 41.4.
“It was awesome to see our kids’ faces after the win,” Chizik told the media after the Tennessee game.
Meanwhile, the beat goes on.
What did Chizik leave? Who else but his old Cyclones would have a kicker who had made all 47 of his college extra points only to get one blocked with 32 seconds left, handing Kansas State a 24-23 win? Grant Mahoney didn’t choke. Emmanuel Lamur, Kansas State’s 6-foot-4 free safety, leaped halfway to Pluto to block his kick.
Johnson inspires.
Turns out, Stafon Johnson helped USC win as much from a hospital bed Saturday as he has on the field. Still recovering from delicate throat surgery after last Monday’s weightlifting accident, Johnson watched his teammates wear “Stafon,” “SJ” and his No. 13 on their uniforms in their 30-3 whitewash at California.
“It might have brought us closer together,” receiver Damian Williams said. “It was difficult, but we managed to do it.”
Combined with its 42-3 loss to Oregon, Cal gave up 65 straight points and scored only two field goals over two weekends.
Buster field narrows.
Showing resilience no one thought it had in beating Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, Houston’s defense reverted to prognosticator form in a 58-41 loss at UTEP.
After gaining all of 53 yards at Texas the week before, UTEP gained 581 yards, and scored 41 points in the second half.
The BCS buster field appears to be a two-team race with No. 6 Boise State and No. 10 TCU, which visits Air Force on Saturday.
Hot seat of the week.
Mike Sanford, UNLV. The only place in Vegas you can’t walk away and cut your losses is on the football field. Any more performances like the Rebels’ 63-28 loss to Nevada and new UNLV president Neal Smatresk might cash in his chips.
How do you spell Q-U-I-T? Try giving up 559 rushing yards to a winless team. Nevada averaged 10.2 yards per carry. Sanford is 13-39, has beaten only Sacramento State and Hawaii this year and gets BYU and Utah next. Dennis Therrell, promoted from linebacker coach, is Sanford’s third defensive coordinator in five years.
Short stuff.
Air Force leads the nation in turnover margin at plus-2.6. . . . In an Albuquerque Journal survey, 64 percent of 965 voters said New Mexico coach Mike Locksley should be fired after hitting his recruiting coordinator, with 20 percent saying he should be suspended. . . . Chant we haven’t heard come out of Notre Dame Stadium in a while: “BEAT S.C.! BEAT S.C.!”
