Gene Chizik era in question as Auburn faces No. 5 Georgia

• With Auburn struggling, this year's Iron Bowl like Super Bowl champion Giants vs. high school team
• Auburn fans have to pop in DVD of Oregon national championship game to make them feel better
• Difficult to envision Chizik as the answer

AUBURN, Ala. -- The final nails are being driven into the coffin of the Gene Chizik era at Auburn.

Two major blows were road losses to Mississippi and Vanderbilt, two of the Southeastern Conference's weakest programs, and another sharp thrust with the hammer came Oct. 27 with the Tigers' humiliating 63-21 loss at home to league newcomer Texas A&M.

Auburn fans started streaming out when it was 28-0 early in the second quarter.

"I really wasn't focused on that, but if they emptied out at halftime, it's obvious why, and I can't blame them for what they saw," Chizik said. "Again, it was just a very poor performance."

The sad fact is that this might not even be the most horrifying setback. Those two are yet to come.

It's as if Auburn fans are shielding their eyes, hoping and praying that probable losses to longtime rivals Georgia at home Saturday and at No. 1 Alabama on Nov. 24 are not as one-sided as they are shaping up to be.

The Bulldogs and the Crimson Tide are a combined 17-1 and can pretty much set their own score like they did last season.

And don't think they won't take advantage of rubbing it into a rival when they are down, either.

Georgia can clinch the East Division title and earn a spot in the Southeastern Conference title game with a win.

Alabama will never forget the most disappointing loss in Nick Saban's career after a 24-0 lead turned into a 28-27 defeat to Auburn two years ago and paved the way for the Tigers' SEC and Bowl Championship Series title run.

Now, the Tide own one of the nation's top defenses and efficient offenses going against the country's worst offense and a defense that looked like chickens with their heads cut off against the Aggies.

We are heading into the most lopsided Iron Bowl ever to be contested.

It's like the Super Bowl champion New York Giants against a high school team.

How did it get to this point in two short years?

"I don't think there is a simple explanation," Chizik says. "I think that a lot of times in football, things happen with momentum or lack of momentum both in games and as seasons unfold. It has been a season where to this point I just feel like there has really not been much momentum gained.

"It would be hard to put your finger on one, but it is a tough place to be in.There is no question about it, but again, we are going to continue to keep forging forward and trying to work ourselves out of it."

Auburn (2-7) is hoping a 42-7 homecoming win vs. New Mexico State and the play of first-time starter Jonathan Wallace at quarterback can provide something positive, but beating New Mexico State and winning in the SEC are two different things.

"I think it can carry us a good bit. I really do," Chizik said after the win. "We have the capability to come out here and play very, very well against very tough teams. I know we have that capability. It is in us."

Title aftermath

You can't take away the 2010 BCS title from Chizik and Auburn fans, whose lament after games this season is to say they're going to pop in the DVD of the Oregon game to make them feel better.

Chizik caught lightning in a bottle with the commitment of the most explosive player in college football history in Cam Newton and had enough pieces in place to take the utmost advantage of it.

But since then, it has been a boat that keeps taking on water.

Chizik mishandled the situation with running back Michael Dyer last season that caused problems among players and the staff where Dyer received preferential treatment despite his misdeeds.

The quarterback situation might be the most baffling.

Auburn came into the season with little available — Kiehl Frazier, Clint Moseley and troubled recruit Zeke Pike (who never stuck around) — but let Barrett Trotter head for post-college football life.

You are not sure exactly how that went down, but you have to assume if the coaching staff had given Trotter a chance to compete for the starting job, he might have stayed to give it a shot.

Not that Trotter is the answer to what ails Auburn, but he did come into the Chick-fil-A Bowl after Moseley went down and led the Tigers to a season-high 43 points in a win against Virginia.

There's probably not an Auburn fan out there who wouldn't feel better if Trotter were directing the team rather than suffering through the quarterback play seen during the first eight games.

Wallace seemed to get off to a positive start.

"I am just very proud of him for where he is at this moment, and we are not going to look back and play the what-if game," Chizik said when asked if he should have gone to Wallace sooner.

It could be the worst quarterback situation of any Division I school. Chizik brought in offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler as a quarterbacks guru and,despite being with Loeffler through spring drills, preseason camp and the first five games, Frazier struggles deciding when he should run or pass.

Last year, there was considerable friction between Chizik and his coordinators, as if Gus Malzahn and Ted Roof were the reasons for the Tigers' blowout losses.But it appears now the constraints Chizik was placing on both of them were detrimental to the team.

If Malzahn were calling plays now, there would at least be a sense of a play's potential rather than an almost dread that a false-start penalty becomes an almost insurmountable hole for the offense.

As coach at Arkansas State, Malzahn has his team in contention for the Sun Beltcrown (while scoring the most points, 34, vs. No. 2 Oregon this season). Roofis directing one of the best defenses in the Big Ten at NCAA-sanction-saddled Penn State. Malzahn and Roof weren't the problem last year.

Also under Chizik, there have been an increasing number of character issues with off-the-field problems and arrests that have to lead you to wonder if he's practicing the same message that he's preaching.

Talent level

In the last three years, Auburn has brought in numerous three- and four-star recruits.

But they haven't produced like three- and four-star recruits. They often disappear on the roster and don't reach their predicted potential (note Frazier's elevated status coming out of high school).

At Alabama, three- and four-star recruits are developed and lead to stronger,deeper depth charts and countless NFL prospects.

Lately at Auburn, it seems players make it in the NFL in spite of the coaching rather than because of it.

One phrase you constantly hear among Auburn fans is that the talent is there.

If that's true, it's even more of an indictment of the coaching staff because how could this team then play so poorly?

Chizik addressed his job security after a 24-7 loss at home to Arkansas when he said: "I'm never concerned about my job security. I'm very comfortable with myself. I'm working really hard and plan on being at Auburn next year."

Those questions were posed again three weeks later after a game in which Auburn allowed the most points at home in the school's history. And that was against a Texas A&M team that put in its second-string offense with 9:30 left in the third quarter.

"I've addressed that before, and I understand that that is your job," Chizik said in his postgame news conference. "That's everybody's job to ask those questions,and I respect that. But again, I've got one concern. ... It is those guys in the locker room and us trying to improve to get a win. So I am not going there."

Chizik is under contract through 2015 with an annual salary of $3.5 million.

No one pays that much money for so little in return.

He has a buyout that began at $10 million after last season and will depreciate to$7.5 million Dec.1 — at which point Auburn will pay it. That's the only way to start over and turn the page on this chapter.

Blueprint for rebound

1. Look for leadership

The confidence in Auburn's leadership has plummeted along with the Tigers' season in 2012. It's difficult to think coach Gene Chizik has the ability to save Auburn's program, despite his Bowl Championship Series title from two years ago. It seems the "5-19 Chizik" from Iowa State is more of his identity.

So where does Auburn go if it makes a change? It's an attractive job, one of the nation's best. But there also is the presence of Nick Saban in Tuscaloosa,Ala., which only adds to the challenge of winning at Auburn.

Throw in LSU — and now Texas A&M with rising coaching star Kevin Sumlin — and the competition looks stiff in the Southeastern Conference West Division.

Still, coaches are usually willing to bet on themselves. The right coach will come for the right price.

2. Where's the offense?

It left for Arkansas State with Gus Malzahn and hasn't returned. No matter who leads Auburn's program in the future, the Tigers have a mess of an offense to fix. It's hard to imagine first-year offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler will be given a chance to turn things around.

And who is Auburn's quarterback of the future? Sophomore Kiehl Frazier has time to grow, but confidence in him is running thin. Freshman Jonathan Wallace has shown potential and could turn into what Frazier has not. But until Auburn settles on a coaching staff, it will be hard to find another quarterback willing to risk his future with the Tigers.

Fanshope Auburn commitment Jeremy Johnson (6-6, 215 pounds) will be the next CamNewton. That's wishful thinking.

3. Get rid of the NCAA

Auburn won't be able to move forward until it finally settles up with the NCAA. The school dealt with the Newton investigation for more than a year. Auburn appears to be under review for its recruitment of running back Jovon Robinson of Memphis. Auburn and Chizik have declined to comment.

Recruits have concerns about Chizik's future. The potential for NCAA penalties will have them running for Baton Rouge, La., and Tuscaloosa in a hurry. The latest NCAA issue will only hurt Chizik's case to save his job. And it won't help athletics director Jay Jacobs, whose future also is in doubt.

Auburn's best bet might be to rid itself of Chizik and Jacobs so it can tell the NCAA the school is moving on from its previous regime. Perhaps that will convince the NCAA to move on, too.

4. Stabilizerecruiting

Committed prospects have stood by Auburn, but they know what's going on.

A coaching change will force them to look elsewhere, although the right coach could help keep most of the class intact. The important thing is to provide answers.

Meanwhile, uncommitted prospects are focusing their attention elsewhere as they wait for the end of the Chizik era. Auburn has several defensive stars committed,including linebacker Reuben Foster, defensive end Carl Lawson and defensive tackle Dee Liner. Keep them in the fold and the 2013 class can be saved.

5. Slow the Tide's roll

Auburn will have a tough time returning to the top of the SEC if it's trying to leap in-state rival Alabama. Yes, Auburn won the national title in 2010 after Alabama had done the same the year before. But Alabama's program has become stronger while Auburn's has plummeted. Auburn needs a proven coach with the ability to challenge Saban and his elite talent.

Many Auburn fans will say that person is Bobby Petrino. He could instantly improve Auburn's offense and convince fans the future is bright. Of course, Petrino comes with his own off-field baggage. But Auburn fans are used to that. They just want to win again.

Zimanek also writes for the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser.Ward also writes for MrSEC.com,an affiliate of USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties.