Auburn coach Gus Malzahn talks with reporters during the Southeastern Conference football Media Days in Hoover, Ala., Wednesday, July 17, 2013.HOOVER, Ala. – Ready. Set. Gus.
After spending three years as Auburn’s offensive coordinator from 2009 to ’11, helping the Tigers to a 30-10 record and the 2010 national title, Gus Malzahn is back on the Plains as the head coach. He was hired last December to revive a program that suddenly skidded to 3-9, and he is hoping a rapid turnaround can be led by a rapid offense.
“We will run our offense at a two-minute pace the entire game,” Malzahn said Wednesday as the Southeastern Conference’s media days continued. “Our goal is to play faster than anybody in college football. We feel that if you can execute an offense at a faster pace that it’s a big advantage, so we’ll be striving for that.”
Auburn returns eight offensive starters, including junior tailback Tre Mason, who rushed for 1,002 yards and 5.9 yards a carry last season. That’s looking at the bright side, because there are concerns both at quarterback and receiver.
Quarterbacks Kiehl Frazier and Jonathan Wallace are back from a unit that averaged 10.1 points per game in SEC contests, and there was no clear-cut starter between the two coming out of spring practice. In a couple of weeks, they will be joined by junior-college transfer Nick Marshall and touted freshman Jeremy Johnson.