Gus has something to prove against Pruitt

[aubiefifty 17,487]

 

By Kevin Scarbinsky | kscarbinsky@al.com
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on November 22, 2016 at 12:20 PM, updated November 22, 2016 at 2:13 PM

 

In a way, Gus Malzahn and Jeremy Pruitt are a lot alike. They grew up as high school football coaches in Southern states, so close to but so far from the fame and fortune of the SEC.

In other ways, they couldn't be more different.

Malzahn built his rep as an offensive guru while Pruitt made his name as a defensive whiz, and they rose to prominence in this state on opposite sides of the Iron Bowl rivalry.

In one particular way, they'll be at the center of the action Saturday with Malzahn as the Auburn head coach and Pruitt in his first year as the Alabama defensive coordinator. No. 16 Auburn will try to upset No. 1 Alabama, and Malzahn will attempt to reverse some recent personal history.

As a college coach, Malzahn is 1-4 against three different teams that included Pruitt as a defensive assistant, with Pruitt's teams winning the last four meetings. As a college head coach, Malzahn is 0-3 against two different teams that featured Pruitt as the defensive coordinator.

Dive deeper into the numbers in those games, and it's fair to ask this question: Does Jeremy Pruitt own Gus Malzahn?

 

That Nick Saban vs. Auburn stat Alabama fans can't stand

It's random, arbitrary and true. Saban is 0-6 at LSU and Alabama combined against Auburn teams that finished the season with nine or more wins.

It's not just that, since Auburn 28, Alabama 27 in the 2010 Iron Bowl, with Malzahn as the Auburn offensive coordinator and Pruitt as the Alabama secondary coach, Malzahn hasn't beaten a team with Pruitt on the staff.

Pruitt started coordinating college defenses the same year Malzahn became the Auburn head coach, and circumstances put them across the field from each other in each of the last three seasons.

On each occasion, Pruitt's team got the better of Malzahn's team on the scoreboard and, progressively, on the stat sheet as well.

Here's the general breakdown of those meetings:

Florida State 34, Auburn 31: Jan. 6, 2014

Malzahn and the Tigers raced to a 21-3 first-half lead against FSU with Pruitt as defensive coordinator, but Auburn didn't score in the third quarter as the Seminoles got back in the game. Auburn scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead touchdown with 1:19 left, but FSU struck back to take the national title.

Malzahn's offense gained 449 yards in scoring 31 points. Both of those numbers remain his best marks by far against a Pruitt defense.

Georgia 34, Auburn 7: Nov. 15, 2014

The week after scoring 38 points in a loss to Texas A&M and two weeks before scoring 44 points in a loss to Alabama, Auburn was limited to 292 yards and one touchdown against a Georgia defense coordinated by Pruitt.

Even worse, Auburn scored a touchdown on its first possession and never moved the scoreboard again.

Georgia 20, Auburn 13: Nov. 14, 2015

The Tigers managed only 275 yards and 13 points, their second lowest total of the year, against Pruitt's Georgia defense. Jovon Robinson rushed for 93 yards, but Jeremy Johnson threw for only 61 yards in place of the injured Sean White.

For the second straight year, Auburn scored a touchdown on its first drive against Pruitt's Georgia defense, then couldn't find the end zone again.

Overall, starting with the second half of the BCS Championship Game, Auburn has scored 30 points in the last five halves against Pruitt's defenses. That's an average of six points a half, 12 points a game. The otherwise successful Nick Marshall was the Auburn quarterback for three of those struggling halves. 

To measure the effectiveness of Pruitt's defenses against Malzahn's offenses, it's instructive to run the numbers against the performances of two other coaches generally recognized as the best defensive coordinators in the SEC in recent years.

How has Malzahn fared against John Chavis and Kirby Smart?

'Turncoat' Carlson represents AU's best chance vs. Tide

Daniel Carlson, Auburn's redshirt junior kicker who has never missed an extra point in college, is the lineage of a proud Alabama family with deep roots to their university. Now the favorite to win the Lou Groza Award given annually to the nation's best kicker, Carlson wanted to play for Alabama, but Nick Saban wouldn't offer him a scholarship. That decision has rewritten the history of the Carlson family, and could play a pivotal role in Saturday's Iron Bowl at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Since Malzahn became the Auburn head coach, his offenses have averaged 26 points and 461 yards in four games against Chavis' defenses at LSU and Texas A&M. Auburn is 2-2 in those games.

In four games against Smart's defenses at Alabama and Georgia, Malzahn's offenses have averaged 23 points and 362 yards. Auburn is 1-3 in those games.

In three games against Pruitt's defenses, Malzahn's offenses have averaged 17 points and 339 yards. Worse for Malzahn, his Auburn team has lost each of those games.

In the last four years, Malzahn's offenses have had five 100-yard rushers against Chavis, one 100-yard rusher against Smart - with two more finishing with 99 yards - and one 100-yard rusher against Pruitt.

In that same time frame, Malzahn's offenses have had two 200-yard passers against Chavis, one 456-yard passer against Smart and one 200-yard passer against Pruitt.

You can make the case that the numbers are skewed somewhat because White was hurt and had little or no impact in the 2015 games against Pruitt and Georgia and Smart and Alabama and in this year's game against Smart and Georgia. We still don't know for sure if he'll play Saturday against Pruitt and Alabama.

But you can't argue with the numbers overall. Malzahn has beaten teams with Chavis and Smart running the opposing defense. Malzahn is still looking for his first victory as a head coach against a team with a defense coordinated by Pruitt.

As long as Pruitt works for one of Auburn's rivals, that will be a major problem for Malzahn to solve.

[AUIH1 1,515]

Pruitt is a better DC than Kirby Smart.  It hurt us against spuat when Saban hired Pruitt.  It should have helped us against uga, but Gus' choke reflex against uga kicked in.

 

wde

[aubiefifty 17,487]

addressing a different portion of this thread i wonder why satan did not offer carlson a schollie? it just sounds so unsatan like. he is the best or one of right? and their kicker blows { no aplogies cus it is not one of our boys} so why did he pass? weird to me if satan always wants the best.................

[WarTim 3,460]

13 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

addressing a different portion of this thread i wonder why satan did not offer carlson a schollie? it just sounds so unsatan like. he is the best or one of right? and their kicker blows { no aplogies cus it is not one of our boys} so why did he pass? weird to me if satan always wants the best.................

Already had Griffith. (The kick sixer)?

[Dan-0 479]

CGM definitely has something to prove against Pruitt and it´s high time he proved it. I´m looking forward to that happening this Saturday.