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Gus Malzahn 20 September 2016 Weekly Press Conference Recap

Gus Malzahn met with the media this morning for his weekly press conference. See what he had to say! All credit to the beat writers who were there.

By Walt Austin
John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

Well, this was certainly an interesting press conference, that's for sure.

First, Sean White is still the starter. Gus believes he gives Auburn the best chance to win. I agree, though I know many don't. I agree because I believe that right now this offense has to throw the football more and not rely only on the runs (and especially not only on the dive on 1st down), and Sean is the best QB for throwing the ball. It's buried a little further down, but he did mention Woody Barrett is being brought up to speed. I doubt we see him anytime soon, though.

For the rest, this is very different from even his Clemson game press conference. Sure, he's talking about the team being close, but he's also reflecting on the mistakes in play calling and more. The tone in the tweets was different than what we've seen, and I put in the last two tweets to show that the beat writers were definitely getting a different vibe from him in this press conference.

I think it's very telling that he says the last two losses have hurt him more than any other. Jim Dunaway had to throw in a comment about guessing the national title is a different realm of pain. I disagree. I don't think it's a different realm. I can understand where he's coming from. In these last two losses, Gus knows that his offense has been abysmal and that if it even had a pulse then this team is likely 3-0 and in the national conversation. Offense is his thing. He's hurt that what he's known for being best at is what is struggling.

I'm grasping at straws, here, but I'm hoping this is a very good sign. He's reflecting on the offense and what's going on. Maybe he'll decide to dust off some old concepts and really get back to the things that made him such a force in football. We'll see, I guess.

Much of the rest is typical coach-speak. He was complimentary of the very good players on LSU's offense and defense and made a comment about looking at the past of what LSU DC Dave Aranda has done before. Gus has a partial blueprint on how to attack Aranda from the 2014/15 Outback Bowl. Yes, that was a loss, but it wasn't because of the offense.

We've seen a reflective, apologetic, contemplative Gus Malzahn. Now, can we please get back the offensive guru to call plays this weekend? I guess we'll see.

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