After Auburn’s 48-11 dismantling of LSU on Halloween inside Jordan-Hare Stadium, jubilant players awarded the game ball to coach Gus Malzahn.
“It was a big birthday week this week, so we thought that would be good for him,” sophomore quarterback Bo Nix said after the home win. “Obviously he put that out on the field today. That was all him.”
The rout of the reigning national champion was Malzahn’s 99th game as Auburn’s coach, and No. 100 was supposed to take place last Saturday at Mississippi State. That contest was postponed due to COVID-19 outbreaks for the Bulldogs, so Malzahn’s 100th is now set for this Saturday night’s matchup between his No. 23 Tigers and Tennessee in Jordan-Hare.
Malzahn’s eight seasons on the Plains have yielded a 66-33 record that includes three wins over rival Alabama, two Southeastern Conference Western Division titles and one overall SEC championship. Simply reaching 100 games is far from a given, as South Carolina’s Will Muschamp recently experienced, so the 55-year-old is not taking this milestone for granted.
“When I think of it that way, it makes me realize just how blessed I am to be the head coach at Auburn and how many great players that I’ve been able to coach,” Malzahn said. “We’ve been able to win some football games, so I’m just real blessed and real honored. I’m looking forward to coaching in my 100th game.”