Expectations were through the roof for the Auburn Tigers this season, and why not? They were coming off an SEC West title in a season that saw the War Eagles beat Alabama and Georgia when each was ranked No. 1 in the nation.

Couple that with a season-opening victory over No. 6 Washington, and more than a few fans and pundits had visions of a conference championship and an initial appearance in the College Football Playoff.

But that impressive 21-16 victory over the Huskies and a Top 10 ranking seem like ages ago, now that the Tigers have blown a game at home to LSU and, more recently, suffered back-to-back conference losses to also-rans.

The wheels came off in a hurry, despite Auburn being favored in every game this season. Even head coach Gus Malzahn was scratching his head after the latest debacle, a 30-24 loss at home to a Tennessee team that hadn’t won a conference game in 11 previous tries.

“I’m going to watch the film,” Malzahn said after the shocking loss. “We’ll have a plan moving forward, whatever that is, to get better. Bottom line is we’ve got to get better and we’ve got to get better as a team. I’m very disappointed with our performance. I thought we would play better.”

There are many reasons why a team goes into the dumpster. Auburn is no exception. Here are five glaring reasons for the sudden collapse.

1. Offensive line

This is a no-brainer. It’s the first thing that comes to mind. The running game has become inconsistent, to put it mildly. The Tigers failed to break 100 yards as a team in the two previous games prior to accumulating 126 in the loss to Tennessee. Protecting quarterback Jarrett Stidham has been a problem as well.

“I think we’ve got to look at everything right now. We didn’t protect very well,” Malzahn said. “We need to look at everything — from an offensive line standpoint, for really all positions.”

2. Lack of leadership

It’s usually your quarterback who provides the leadership for the team. But as former Auburn player (1996-2001) and SEC Network analyst Cole Cubelic pointed out, there seems to be discord rather than unity in the locker room.

Apparently, Stidham’s laid-back attitude is rubbing some players the wrong way, especially after five losses in nine games dating back to last year’s SEC Championship Game. Nobody seems to mind that type of approach when you’re winning, but it can be misconstrued as a lack of intensity when the losses begin to mount.

3. Second-half meltdowns

In two of their three losses this season, the Tigers held the lead at halftime. On Saturday, Auburn took a 17-13 edge into the locker room only to see the Vols score the first 17 points of the second half. Auburn led 14-10 at halftime and 21-10 early in the third quarter over LSU before watching the Bayou Bengals score the game’s final 12 points.

Halftime adjustments fall squarely on Malzahn and the coaching staff. The second-half woes don’t appear to be from a lack of conditioning. It isn’t as if the opposition is wearing down Auburn over the final two quarters.

4. Sudden defensive breakdowns

Especially in the secondary, Auburn had problems holding back the Vols and quarterback Jarrett Guarantano, who threw for 328 yards (most given up by the Tigers this season) and 2 touchdowns. Of course, a big reason for that was the injury to Jamel Dean and the ejection of Jeremiah Dinson for targeting.

But a once-solid Auburn defense has slipped to the middle of the pack in the SEC, ranking seventh in the conference by yielding an average of 333.9 yards per game. Malzahn can no longer play the field position game, relying on his defense to hold down the opposition while managing a struggling offense in hopes it does just enough to pull out a win.

5. General discord

All of the aforementioned have added up to a general lack of confidence, lack of team chemistry and lack of trust both with the team and coaches. Through the adversity, Malzahn remains confident that the season can still be turned around.

“Well, we’re going to have to stick together in the locker room, and we’re going to have to fix it,” Malzahn said. “We’ve got to rally, and we’ve got to finish this thing the right way.”