Gus Malzahn wary of Arkansas’ John Chavis

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Gus Malzahn wary of Arkansas’ John Chavis, whose defenses have given him trouble over the years

Posted Oct 16, 2019

4-5 minutes

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John Chavis has been a bit of a pain in Gus Malzahn’s neck over the years.

Arkansas’ current defensive coordinator has matched wits with Malzahn 10 times over the last 14 years, and while Malzahn’s team have won six of those games, three of the four losses have produced some of the worst offensive performances of Malzahn’s coaching career.

“He’s good,” Malzahn said. “He’s one of the best. He’s proven over the course of time that he’s one of the best. He does what he does, but he always has a wrinkle or two and puts his guys in really good positions to be successful.”

Most of Chavis’ success against Malzahn came during his time as LSU’s defensive coordinator, when he squared off with Malzahn’s offenses five times during a six-year span between 2009-14. Chavis’ defenses got the best of Malzahn’s Hurry Up, No Huddle schemes in three of their first four meetings, including holding Auburn to 193 total yards and 3.16 yards per play in 2009 (a 31-10 LSU win) and 248 yards and 4.28 yards per play in 2011 (a 45-10 Auburn loss).

Those were two of the eight-worst offensive outputs of Malzahn’s career as a college coach, with the 193-yard performance the fourth-worst. Though Malzahn’s teams have won each of the last two against Chavis’ defenses, first against Texas A&M in 2017 and then against Arkansas last year, Auburn’s offenses haven’t been without their struggles.

In fact, Auburn’s worst offensive performance of 2018 came during the Tigers’ win against the Razorbacks — not in any of the team’s losses to Alabama, Georgia, LSU or even Tennessee. In Auburn’s 34-3 win against Arkansas last season in Jordan-Hare Stadium, the Tigers mustered just 225 total yards of offense, including just 91 yards rushing, and averaged 3.88 yards per play in a game that was dominated by Auburn’s defense and special teams.

That game marked the eighth-worst offensive output of Malzahn’s career, and while the Tigers managed to score four touchdowns, it was thanks largely to short fields — and one special teams score.

Auburn did not have a drive longer than nine plays. Its longest possession spanned 3:51 of game time. It went three-and-out four times and had 11 possessions cover fewer than 20 yards.

“They did a great job, I thought, defensively last year,” Malzahn said. “Got after us pretty good. We scored points but they got after us. We had some short fields too that helped with that. We know we’re going to get their best and we know we need to play good, clean football. Anytime you’re on the road in this league, you’ve got to play good football. You’ve got to protect the football, you’ve got to play good offensively, defensively, special teams. It’s a challenge anytime you go on the road in this league.”

Round 11 between Chavis (who’s close friends with Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele) and Malzahn (who’s close friends with Arkansas coach Chad Morris) will go down Saturday, when No. 11 Auburn (5-1, 2-1 SEC) travels to Arkansas (2-4, 0-3) for an 11 a.m. kick in Fayetteville, Ark.

Although Arkansas has lost 14 consecutive SEC games, Malzahn is wary of the Razorbacks — particularly Chavis’ defense given his familiarity with and experience against Malzahn’s offenses.

“Defensively, they flat got after us last year,” Malzahn said. “… They’ve got a lot of those guys back. Their defensive coordinator is one of the best in the business. Kamren Curl, a defensive back, is leading them in tackles. Very good player that was there last year. De’Jon Harris played very well against us last year. McTelvin Agim is one of the best defensive linemen in our league. “They definitely have our attention.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.