Respect Gus Malzahn, offensive mind freak

The Auburn offensive attack that Kentucky faces today is as creative and innovative as any you will see in college football, featuring motion, misdirection and more talented guys carrying the ball than should be legal.  And though Cam Newton, Onterio McCalebb, Michael Dyer and Michael Fannin are the ones getting the love for the nation’s 8th-best rushing attack, it’s the man calling the plays who deserves the credit.  The Auburn offensive monster comes courtesy of the innovative mind of Gus Malzahn, profiled in this Rivals piece, who was coaching high school football just five years ago.  Malzahn, um, how do I say this politely…..took advantage of the unique opportunity of coaching a number of highly-ranked school recruits and parlayed it into a job as Houston Nutt’s offensive coordinator at Arkansas the same year they all committed.  At Arkansas, he helped the Razorbacks win the SEC West with innovative play-calling that took advantage of the Hogs two talented backs (Darren McFadden and Felix Jones) and limited the influence of a craptastic quarterback (Casey Dick).  Now, after a brief stop in Tulsa, Malzahn is now at Auburn and, after implementing a strong passing game last season, has re-designed the offense to take advantage of Cam Newton’s skills.

So, in summary, it is possible to tweak the offense to better utilize your players.  In case you were wondering.