Auburn football: Maybe some lineup changes will be good thing for Tigers

The Auburn football team might be without several starters on offense when it plays Mississippi State on Saturday in Starkville.

Left tackle Prince Tega Wanogho and right tackle Jack Driscoll left the game last week against Southern Miss with injuries. Also, running back JaTarvious Whitlow, the team’s leading rusher, also left with an apparent left shoulder injury.

Gus Malzahn said Tuesday that all three are going to do their best to play Saturday and that he’ll know more after practice.

If history is any indicator, that means it’s unlikely that any of them will play.

And we never want to see a player go down with an injury. Ever. But injury or not, it feels like the starters on this offense are to-be-decided each week. That is, until someone locks down every spot.

And honestly, outside of the receivers, is there anyone on this offense right now that should be guaranteed starting status?

Offensive line

• Auburn started the season with Kaleb Kim and Nick Brahms replaced him the past two games.
• Last week, Wanogho and Driscoll left the game and were replaced by Bailey Sharp, Austin Troxell and Calvin Ashley.
• The more the coaches see of Kim, Brahms, Marquel Harrell, Mike Horton, Wanogho, Driscoll, Sharp, Troxell and Ashley, the better lineup they should be able to put on the field when they’re all healthy.

Running back

• Kam Martin did the bulk of the work in Week 1. But he was moved to the background as Whitlow emerged and Shaun Shivers had a nice couple of games.
• With Whitlow hurt during the game last week, Martin ran 24 times.
• Whitlow might be Auburn’s most physical runner, but the Tigers have options there with Martin, Shivers, Malik Miller and Asa Martin. If nothing else, this could be a great opportunity for one of them to create a bigger role this season.

Quarterback

• Jarrett Stidham is the starter and always will be the starter. But we wrote after the game against Southern Miss that maybe it’s worth inserting Malik Willis for a possession here and there. We’ve seen a lot of 3-and-outs, so what’s the harm?

Since the Auburn offense climbed into a hole after going up 21-10 against LSU in Week 3, most Auburn football fans have been anxiously waiting to see the offense reappear. It’s happened here and there, but not consistently.

Auburn had one of its worst offensive performances in the Malzahn era against Arkansas and while it showed big-play capability last week against Southern Miss, the inconsistency and third-down problems hamstrung the Tigers throughout the night.

So why not embrace a little change?

An offensive line that features Sharp or Troxell at left tackle, Harrell and Horton at guard, Brahms at center and Ashley at right tackle? Maybe it gives OL coach  J.B. Grimes more options when Wanogho and Driscoll return.

A backfield that rotates Martin, Shivers, Miller and Asa Martin if Whitlow is sidelined?

More jet sweeps with Anthony Schwartz?

Auburn has punted 18 times the past three games and gone 0 for 2 on fourth-down plays. That’s 20 possessions that have produced no points.

Maybe shaking up things — by necessity or for the sake of shaking it up — isn’t a bad thing for this team right now.