Former Auburn football head coach Gus Malzahn is hearing it on social media after his UCF Knights’ first drive of the 2021 season ended in a pick-six.
Of course, the toxicity of Twitter often fails to nail the nuance of real-time events as they are happening. We’ve seen the news cycle descend to pitiful depths this past year.
Folks likely saw the headline, “UCF’s first drive of the Gus Malzahn era ends in Boise State pick-six” and ran with it.
Here’s the actual context of the play, where Boise State’s Tyric LeBauf took a Dillon Gabriel red zone pass and turned it into six points on the other end:
"Dillon Gabriel had UCF’s offense cooking early in the first half and then throws an interception in the end zone that got returned 100 yards the other way for a Boise State touchdown. Without that mistake, UCF would have this thing going right according to plan. But that one mistake has created a sense of urgency in a stadium that has gone through a long and uneasy night already with more than two hours of weather delays."
And here are the responses:
Gus Malzahn’s route tree has not progressed
— Connor Jackson (@CJacksonPRZ) September 3, 2021
Damn Gus malzahn can’t even make UCF look decent
— gomer kyle (@novanasty) September 3, 2021
Only Gus Malzahn can make UCF’s offense look like Auburn’s did for the last 5 years
— Jay M (@jmcmahon__) September 3, 2021
The narrative is already off to the races. Meme culture is fun for those getting the laugh, but often not fun for those looking for a balanced reaction to things.
Is the 2010 Auburn football National Championship OC/QB coach Malzahn the reason why Gabriel badly underthrew an end zone fly route to Ryan O’Keefe?
No, but never let facts get in the way of a good story.