The good news is it wasn’t the outcome we expected. For more than three quarters Saturday, Auburn played like the team they were hyped to be back in August. There was no monumental embarrassment inside Jordan-Hare Stadium. Everything else ran pretty much according to script.
You’ve heard all the stats by now. Gus Malzahn is now a loser in nine of his last 11 conference games. Auburn ends the year with six SEC losses. To give some prospective, Alabama has lost only five conference games in the past five years.
Auburn is at a crossroads.
Outside of the two SEC Championship runs, Auburn has not been competitive against its two biggest rivals.