Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn talked about his team and took questions from fans during the Tiger Talk radio show on Monday night.
Last Thursday, Auburn defeated Kentucky 30-27. The win improved the Tigers’ record to 4-2 overall and 1-2 in SEC play. The Tigers travel to Arkansas this Saturday for a game at noon Eastern time.
Malzahn believes his team is getting better.
“We are improving,” he said. “You can see it in practice. You can see it in our guys’ demeanor. We’re 2-0 in October. That’s kind of what we did. We said let’s put the first month behind. We talked about having a great opportunity to improve each game. We need to do it on Saturdays.”
Auburn’s Gus Malzahn on Tiger Talk: “We are improving, you can see it in practice, you can see in our guys’ demeanor.”
— Auburn Gold Mine (@AUGoldMine) October 20, 2015
Malzahn: “We said ‘hey, let’s put the first month behind.'” Auburn 2-0 in October, something players have mentioned quite a bit.
— Tom Green (@AUBlog) October 20, 2015
Malzahn, a native of Fort Smith, Ark., will be returning to his home state this Saturday. He played for the Razorbacks in 1984 and 1985, and was their offensive coordinator in 2006.
“It’s always different,” he said. “That’s where I grew up. I spent 15 years coaching high school football there. My family’s there. (My wife) Kristi’s family is there. A lot of my best friends are there. But you have a job to do. It’s a very tough place to play. Our guys will be ready and be looking forward to it.”
CGM going home: “It’s always a little bit different but you have a job to do. It’s a very tough place to play.” https://t.co/BnGrKMzS60
— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) October 20, 2015
Malzahn says the Razorbacks are a physical team, and he expects a physical game.
“We like to play physical football too,” he said. “We like to run the football and they like to run the football. We’ve played physical games the last two years and we expect this game to be very physical.”
Auburn’s coach also says Arkansas is a lot better than its 2-4 record indicates.
“(They are) very deceiving,” he said. “They’ve played two Top 10 teams and played them very well. They are a good team, and I think everybody knows that. They have a high talent level. I think they are solid in all three phases. They have a quarterback (Brandon Allen) with quality experience.”
What must Auburn do to win on Saturday?
“You have to protect the football. You have to stop the run. And we are going to have to run the football. I think that is really what it comes down to,” Malzahn said.
Malzahn praised quarterback Sean White’s play in the win over Kentucky. The redshirt freshman quarterback passed for a career-high 255 yards.
“When things broke down, he made good decisions,” Malzahn said. “We had some explosive plays down the field in the passing game.”
Another player Malzahn praised was kicker Daniel Carlson. Carlson’s 52-yard field goal against Kentucky was his third field goal of more than 50 yards this season. Malzahn said the kick “would (have) been good from 62.”
“Right now, he’s one of the best kickers in the country,” the coach said.
Another player that played well against Kentucky was senior wide receiver Ricardo Louis, who caught seven passes for 154 yards.
“He went up and attacked the ball,” Malzahn said. “That’s what I thought was big. Ricardo has that kind of ability. It’s his time. It was good to see him make those plays down the field.”
Tiger Talk airs on Monday nights at 8 p.m. Eastern, and features Malzahn taking calls from Tiger fans. The show can be streamed online at this link.
