Coming out of Week 9, many folks are buzzing about Auburn’s defensive performance against LSU even in the loss. The Tigers front four hit Joe Burrow more Saturday than he’s been hit all season, and Kevin Steele’s unit gave Auburn a chance to pull the upset.

While Auburn’s defense is elite, analysts are also talking about Gus Malzahn’s struggling offense.

Freshman quarterback Bo Nix completed just 15-of-35 passes for 157 yards, one touchdown and one INT. The Tigers’ offense did get 130 rushing yards, but committing 15 penalties won’t win many games against elite opponents like LSU.

On Monday’s episode of the “GM Shuffle” podcast, known Gus Malzahn critic, former NFL GM, Michael Lombardi called out the Tigers coach.

“My man Gus Bus, that’s the worst offense I’ve ever seen,” Lombardi said. “He had no idea how to throw a football. Zero. Zero. All he does is scream at the players, he has no idea how to throw the football. He has no passing game. He may have the best team in the country. He could go play Ohio State and match, because that defense is legit. That defense played a doubleheader on Saturday in the Bayou and they played hard all the way to the bitter end. And yet, they had no help from their offense. He’ll blame it on a rookie quarterback – no, he’s got a bad, bad offensive scheme. It’s horrible.”

Auburn’s offense finished just 5-of-18 on third down and totaled just 287 offensive yards. However, even though it struggled at times, two plays come to mind that could have won Auburn the game. Bo Nix’s interception right before halftime came at a critical time, and it took points off the board for the Tigers. It also gave LSU momentum going into halftime, with Joe Burrow and company getting the ball after the break.

Secondly, DJ Williams’ 70-yard run in the third quarter should have been a touchdown. Yes, Grant Delpit got a hand on Williams and effectively was able to get Williams to go out of bounds, but it almost looked as if Williams could have scored a touchdown despite Delpit getting a hand on him. Instead, Auburn couldn’t score a touchdown and had to kick a field goal.

Had those two possessions gone Auburn’s way, we’re potentially having different conversations about the SEC West.

This much we know — Lombardi isn’t a fan of Malzahn’s offense.