If Gus Malzahn had it his way, Auburn wouldn’t travel to both Georgia and Alabama in any given season.

While acknowledging his team does get the added benefit of hosting both of those games every other season, Malzahn expressed his desire to see one of those games moved so that his Tigers only have to hit the road to one of its main rivals each year. The Auburn coach even referenced back to his days as offensive coordinator on The Plains back in 2010. Back then, Auburn did stagger the Georgia and Alabama games.

During a recent appearance on Birmingham-based radio station WJOX 94.5 FM program 3 Man Front, Malzahn was asked if he’d like to see the time between those games spread out more. Malzahn didn’t seem to take issue with the date of the games but did offer up his desire to see them staggered.

“I think the big thing is having them staggered,” Malzahn said. “One at home and one away would probably be the best… Last year was two at home, here (in 2018) it’s two away. Looking back at 2010, we played Georgia at home and Alabama away. That would be my wish.”

Later in the interview, Malzahn was asked about his defense. Does the fact the Tigers could have the best defensive front in the SEC make him more aggressive on offense?

“Yeah, that is a great luxury, there’s no doubt about that,” the Auburn coach answered. “We like to be aggressive anyway, but when you have a defense like we have — we have the majority of our defense back, we think we have a chance to be pretty good. It gives you more flexibility, not just calling plays just managing the entire game anytime you have a defense like we’ve got.”

The Auburn coach was also asked about the current state of graduate transfers in college football. The Tigers landed a commitment from UMass graduate transfer offensive lineman Jack Driscoll just a few weeks ago.

“It has changed college football,” Malzahn commented. “It’s getting more and more popular. The last few years, we’ve kept a couple scholarships back at some positions of need if it comes about. It’s worked out for us. The guy you are talking about (Driscoll) has a chance to be a really good player and he’s our type of person. I think that’s the No. 1 thing.”