If you’re like most Auburn football fans, you’re excited about the season opener Saturday against No. 6 Washington and terrified at the same time.
Auburn’s offense has been great with Gus Malzahn in charge as offensive coordinator or head coach and it’s also been very mediocre.
As offensive coordinator under Gene Chizik from 2009 to 2011, Auburn averaged 43.6 and went 3-0 in season openers. As head coach, Malzahn’s Tigers are averaging 32.2 points per game in their five openers with a 4-1 record.
Auburn has played some good times in those eight openers with Malzhan on the Auburn sideline — Washington State, Arkansas, Louisville, Clemson — and some middle-of-the-pack or lower teams in Louisiana Tech, Arkansas State, Utah State and Georgia Southern.
The Saturday season opener in Atlanta is unlike any of those outside of the Clemson game in 2016. This one is big and there’s little margin for error. This is the first of several marquee games on the Auburn football schedule. The neutral-site game against a top-10 opponent is the first of three games against top-10 teams as Auburn also travels to Georgia and Alabama in the final three weeks of the regular season.
Here’s a look at how Auburn performed in its season-opening games with Malzahn as offensive coordinator or head coach and what is ahead Saturday against Washington.