Auburn Football: Gus Malzahn Aims to Stay Perfect at Jordan-Hare Stadium

Aug 30, 2014; Auburn, AL, USA; Auburn Tigers head coach Gus Malzahn and lineman Chad Slade (62) enter Jordan Hare Stadium before the game against the Arkansas Razoracks. Mandatory Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

Auburn has one of the best home field advantages in the SEC, if not the entire nation.

“I’ve had the unique experience of coming here coaching another team and the experience of being the offensive coordinator here and the head coach here,” head coach Gus Malzahn said this week. “In my opinion, it doesn’t get any better than our home field advantage.”

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Malzahn would certainly know. When taking his time as an Auburn assistant into account, Malzahn’s teams are 33-3 at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Overall, it’s been a while since the Auburn football team lost a game at home. The Tigers have won 13 in a row on the Plains dating dating back to the home finale of the 2012 season, a streak which is tied with Florida State for the longest in the nation. Gus Malzahn has never lost at home as Auburn’s head coach. He’s 12-0, and his squad has won those games by an average score of 41-18.

Of course all of that will be in jeopardy Saturday as Malzahn and the Tigers, along with 87,451 fans, host the South Carolina Gamecocks.

South Carolina has struggled through the early weeks of the 2014 season, and had their own impressive home winning streak snapped in August. A 52-28 loss to Texas A&M in the season opener was the first loss for the Gamecocks in 19 games at Williams-Brice Stadium. They lost again, 21-20 to Missouri, less than one month later. A popular pre-season pick to contend for the SEC championship and even the national title, the 4-3 start to the season is a major disappointment for Gamecocks’ fans.

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Upsetting the Tigers at Jordan-Hare would help to ease the pain created by the team’s slow start. But, it’s a very difficult thing to do: beating Auburn at Jordan-Hare and beating Malzahn at home.

Malzahn’s winning ways extend beyond his tenure as the head coach of the Tigers. In fact, Malzahn has lost only one home game in his career as a collegiate head coach – a 26-13 defeat at the hands of Western Kentucky in the fifth week of the 2012 season – making his personal home winning streak 15. The Arkansas native was the head coach at Arkansas State at the time and he led the Red Wolves to the Sun Belt championship that year on the strength of a 7-1 conference record and a 5-1 mark at home.

A win over the Gamecocks would make Malzahn the first Auburn head coach since Terry Bowden to win his first 13 games at Jordan-Hare. Bowden tied Georgia in his 14th home game, which means Malzahn could have an opportunity to become the first Auburn head coach to win his first 14 at JHS if the Tigers can beat South Carolina Saturday and then Texas A&M on November 8.

The odds are in his favor. Auburn is currently an 19-point favorite over Carolina. Plus, it doesn’t get any better than the home field advantage at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Next: South Carolina at Auburn: Preview and Predictions

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