After Sunday, Auburn knows it’s headed to Tampa, Florida, to play Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl. What the Tigers don’t know is who their defensive coordinator will be or if they will even have one by the time they play the Badgers on New Year's Day.
It’s been more than a week since Ellis Johnson was dismissed as Auburn’s defensive coordinator, and head coach Gus Malzahn is still in the process of finding his replacement.
"Hopefully we can hire someone in the near future," Malzahn said Sunday on a teleconference. "I'm not putting a definitive date on it, and once we do that, then we can think through the bowl and all that."
The name that’s come up the most has been former Florida head coach Will Muschamp, but he is a hot commodity around the SEC with South Carolina and Texas A&M reportedly interested as well. He has history with Auburn, spending two seasons as a graduate assistant in 1995-96, and returning as defensive coordinator in 2006-07.
When asked about Muschamp, Malzahn didn’t deny that Auburn has reached out.
"I'm not going to get into any details regarding our search," the second-year coach said. "It's just a matter of us trying to get the right guy, and we'll see the timetable on that. We’re just looking for the right fit for Auburn at this time."
Malzahn hasn’t said who will be the defensive coordinator in an interim basis headed into bowl practice, though some believe secondary coach Charlie Harbison could be the one who calls plays in the bowl game.
Whoever draws the assignment will have a difficult task trying to slow down Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon, the nation’s leading rusher.
Despite a lackluster performance in the Big 10 championship game, Gordon is likely headed to New York City for the Heisman Trophy ceremony. He has rushed for 2,336 yards and 26 touchdowns this season, and he broke the single-game rushing record when he went for 408 yards against Nebraska last month.
"He’s one of the better running backs in the country," Malzahn said. "We saw them earlier in the year on film against LSU, and he was electric. You could tell he had another gear.
"He’s had a great year. They have a big offensive line. I’ve not gotten a chance to study everything in great detail, but just big picture, they’re very good at running the football and he’s one of the better running backs in the country."
The last time Auburn faced a 2,000-yard rusher was in the 2003 Capital One Bowl. Penn State running back Larry Johnson came in with 2,015 yards rushing, and the Tigers held him to 72 yards en route to a 13-9 victory.
This Auburn defense isn’t nearly as talented as that group, though. This season, the Tigers have given up 30 or more points in six of their past seven games, and they rank in the bottom half of the SEC, allowing 149.5 yards per game on the ground.
That could all change with a new defensive coordinator. But for now, the search continues.