November Struggles Can Put Kevin Sumlin, Gus Malzahn Back on Hot Seats

The more things change, the more things stay the same.

Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin and Auburn's Gus Malzahn entered the season on two of the hottest head coaching seats in the country, won enough to land in the Top 10 in November, cooling those seats off, and then suffered mind-numbing losses that called their effectiveness into question again.

For Sumlin, it was a double dose of Magnolia State pain. The Aggies lost 35-28 at Mississippi State on Nov. 5 and followed that up this Saturday by blowing a two-score, fourth-quarter lead in a 29-28 home loss to Ole Miss, which was led by true freshman quarterback Shea Patterson.      

"We didn't convert when we had the opportunity to really extend a little in third quarter," Sumlin said in emailed quotes. "We've been a really good team in the third quarter with adjustments, been probably one of our best quarters all year. It wasn't for us tonight, and that's where we had a chance to really [extend the lead]."

Auburn entered Saturday in control of its SEC West and College Football Playoff destiny. But the Tigers managed just 164 yards in a 13-7 loss at Georgia, didn't get a single first down in the second half and posted the second-worst offensive performance in Malzahn's 11-year collegiate coaching career, according to Brandon Marcello of 247Sports.

"We didn't get it done," Malzahn said in emailed quotes. "We didn't execute very good. We didn't do a very good job offensively, that was obvious."

Get ready for another offseason of discontent in College Station and on the Plains, because with the direction these two teams are headed, both coaches will have to show significant improvement in 2017 to stay employed at their schools.

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Texas A&M is sitting at 7-3 (4-3 SEC), has suffered devastating injuries at quarterback (Trevor Knight) and defensive end (Myles Garrett) that have contributed to its downturn, and its rushing offense has regressed from 7.04 yards per carry in September to 5.52 in October and 3.73 in November, according to CFBStats. 

Defensively, the Aggies have gone from giving up 4.79 yards per play in September to 5.98 in November. What's more, they'll likely lose Garrett to the NFL along with senior defensive end Daeshon Hall, linebacker Shaan Washington and defensive back Justin Evans. They could also see a few more underclassmen jump, including safety Armani Watts.

Yikes.

As if going winless against the state of Mississippi in November wasn't bad enough, Sumlin's crew is hosting LSU on Thanksgiving night. Even if star running back Leonard Fournette is limited by his nagging ankle injury, the idea of stopping that rushing attack—even if it's led by sophomore Derrius Guice—is frightening. 

If the Aggies fall to the Tigers, would an 8-4 record (4-4 SEC) do anything to cool Sumlin's seat?

Not at all.

Essentially, it would mean that, from a hot-seat perspective, Sumlin's seat wouldn't be any hotter or colder than it was all offseason.

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Over at Auburn (7-3, 5-2 SEC), it's a similar story.

A hot October elevated Malzahn's Tigers back into the national discussion. But injuries to running back Kamryn Pettway and quarterback Sean White limited the effectiveness of the offense and put too much strain on the defense Saturday.

That was against Georgia, not Alabama.

When the Tigers travel to Tuscaloosa on Nov. 26 for rivalry weekend and have to contend with a Crimson Tide team that tops the conference in total defense (259.5 yards per game), yards per play (4.00) and scoring defense (12.2 points per game), things likely won't change.

The Tigers will handle Alabama A&M this weekend, and even if they lose to Alabama, going 8-4 with a 5-3 conference record will be a sign of progress based on last year's 7-6 debacle.

What's more, 90.3 percent of Auburn's offensive production this year has come from underclassmen, according to CFBStats. (Note: Total offense factors in passing and rushing yards but not receiving yards in order to prevent double-counting yardage on passing plays).

Senior defensive tackle Montravius Adams and defensive backs Joshua Holsey and Johnathan Ford will be gone, and defensive end Carl Lawson will likely jump to the NFL. Will Auburn's defense be able to sustain its 2016 success without them? There are talented players on that side, including lineman Marlon Davidson to build around, but it will be a challenge.

The future could be bright on the Plains, but Malzahn better make that light shine next year. Otherwise, it would be a sign the ceiling for the program under his watch might not be as high as it appeared when he led the Tigers to the SEC title and BCS National Championship Game in 2013. 

Sumlin and Malzahn coached their way off hot seats during the 2016 campaign, but if things don't change down the stretch, it's likely the two will be right back on them leading up to the 2017 season.

Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics courtesy of CFBStats unless otherwise noted. All recruiting information is courtesy of Scout. Odds provided by Odds Shark.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.