Take Two: Is Gus Malzahn off the hot seat?

Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling a handful of issues in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and a local expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites.

MORE TAKE TWO: Will Vols hold onto strong 2018 class? | Should LSU move on?

Auburn is ranked No. 12 in the country, its only loss to Clemson. The Tigers have put up 51 and 49 points, respectively, in blowout wins over Missouri and Mississippi State in their last two games. The defense is playing phenomenally well, not allowing more than 14 points to any team so far this season.

So does this mean coach Gus Malzahn is officially off the hot seat? Not completely, but close.

Malzahn took Auburn to the national championship game in his first season but has failed to win more than eight games in the three years since and is 13-13 in his last 26 SEC games..

Yes, Auburn has looked much better to date – even if a win over Mercer wasn’t awe-inspiring and the loss to Clemson was disappointing because of conservative play-calling – but the challenging part of the Tigers’ schedule is still ahead in November.

Games against fast-rising Georgia and powerhouse Alabama, both at Auburn, are especially circled. LSU, Arkansas and Texas A&M are all winnable.

So the question remains: Has Malzahn already done enough to secure his job for next season or is the jury still out, waiting to see how the Tigers perform to close out a challenging SEC schedule?

The SEC is cutthroat but could a coach who has his team at 4-1 and ranked at No. 12 in the polls really be fighting for his job?

“It's fair to say Gus Malzahn's seat has cooled a bit with the back-to-back SEC blowouts and more turmoil within the athletic department after the arrest of basketball assistant Chuck Person on federal bribery charges last week. However, Auburn will face a tough three-game SEC road trip after Saturday's game against Ole Miss, and November rivalry games against Georgia and Alabama could still be decisive. Malzahn has lost three-straight to both schools. In its 125 years of football history, Auburn has never lost to both the Bulldogs and Tide in four consecutive seasons. That's not the kind of history any Auburn coach wants to make.

“It's clear Auburn's offense has taken some steps forward in the last two games, particularly with the explosive plays. Auburn had 15 plays of 20 or more yards against Missouri and Mississippi State after combining for 13 in the first three games, which included wins over Georgia Southern and Mercer. Quarterback Jarrett Stidham has completed 83 percent of his passes over the last three games, so he's getting more comfortable in the offense. There are some tougher matchups ahead and still concerns about an inconsistent running game. Running back Kamryn Pettway, who has been banged up, is averaging just 3.4 yards per carry.”

“He’s off the hot seat. They lost by eight points to Clemson and I know the offense didn’t look good and people were frustrated. They’ve bounced back and they’ll be if not in the top 10, right outside the top 10. You can’t have a coach on the hot seat who has his team ranked in the top 10.

“It’s just the SEC that creates this. The offense looks good. Running back Kerryon Johnson has been a big spark for them. Stidham looks better and more comfortable. They haven’t really beaten anybody. He’s off the hot seat and Auburn has the best chance to unseat Alabama, but that doesn’t mean they’re a national title contender.”