10/29 at 05:10 AM

Gus Malzahn is having to endure something he’s never had to deal with in his six years as a collegiate offensive coordinator.

Namely, his offense is not performing.

A Gus Malzahn offense had never dipped below 400 yards in five straight games in his five years controlling a college offense. Shoot, Tulsa went through the 2007 and 2008 seasons under Malzahn and only put up less than 400 yards three times.

Until this year, when Auburn’s hit a five-game stretch of sub-400 yard performances and has only reached that height one time in eight games.

A Gus Malzahn offense had never been held to fewer than 300 yards in two straight games in his five years flummoxing college defenses. Shoot, Malzahn’s offenses had dipped below 300 yards only four times in 67 games.

Until this year, when Auburn put up 278 yards in a win over Florida and followed it up with 248 in a loss to LSU.

“It’s frustrating to me when we’re not playing well on the offensive side,” Malzahn said. “It’s not just one thing. There are a couple different variables that are keeping us from playing better.

“We’ve got to find a way. That’s what I’m continually trying to do, trying new people, trying to figure out new pieces of the puzzle.”

Malzahn’s right about the “different variables” conspiring to hamstring his offense.

There are a number of theories as to why the Gus Bus is actually following the speed limit this year, and none of them fully explain the problem.

—Personnel is forcing Malzahn to go slower than he has in the past:

Auburn is averaging a play every 25.6 seconds this year, up from Malzahn’s average at Tulsa (one every 22.2 seconds) and slightly up from his average over 35 games at Auburn (one every 25.1 seconds).

But last year’s team ran a play every 26.0 seconds and shattered every meaningful mark in the Auburn offensive record book.

Of course, last year’s team also had Cam Newton.

In 2009 and this season — the non-Newton years — Auburn is 10-3 in games in which it runs a play faster than once every 25.1 seconds and 3-5 in games in which it does not.

This year, the Tigers are 3-1 when they’re faster — wins over Utah State, Mississippi State and South Carolina, loss to Clemson — and 2-2 when they’re slower — wins over Florida Atlantic and Florida, losses to Arkansas and LSU.

There’s a theory running parallel to the one mentioned above that Malzahn and the offense have taken the foot off the pedal to help the Tigers’ defense through its struggles this year by trying to dictate a slower game pace.

Head coach Gene Chizik said there’s no truth to that.

“We have not gone conservative to aid the defense,” Chizik said. “There was nothing where we definitively said we’ve got to get more conservative with X, Y and Z to help this part of our team. We’ve never done that.”

—QB troubles are forcing Malzahn to run more than he has in the past:

Auburn has run the ball 63.5 percent of the time this year and passed only 36.5 percent.

That proportion is — actually — right about in the middle of the road when it comes to a Malzahn offense.

Arkansas ran 64.1 percent of the time in 2006, Tulsa ran 61.4 percent of the time in 2008 and Auburn ran 68.8 percent of the time just last season, with the Cam Newton variable, of course.

The Arkansas and Tulsa examples are more instructive because both situations involved a pocket passing quarterback that necessitated a halfback-centric run game.

If that’s going to be the case, the quarterback needs to be putting up passing yards.

Auburn is getting 47.2 percent of its yards through the air, which is right between Malzahn’s ’06 Arkansas (39.6 percent) and ’08 Tulsa (53.0) squads.

The Tigers’ rate has dipped to 39.1 percent over the past month as they’ve lost their pass game a bit, and pass plays are down to 31.5 percent over that period.

“Our challenge has been throwing the football,” Malzahn said. “When we get passing yards down the field and get that rhythm, we’re a lot more effective offense.”

—Injuries are wreaking havoc on Malzahn’s best-laid plans:

Losing Emory Blake certainly hurt, especially with the Tigers struggling to find a downfield weapon to step up in his absence.

Trovon Reed’s injury hurt as well, but the Tigers also have a number of fast, lithe players that can fill his role.

Consider this: Reed has comprised 12.1 percent of Auburn’s pass offense in games he’s played this year. Blake has contributed three times that, 36.2 percent.

Five lineups in eight games on the offensive line — both because of injuries and ineffectiveness — have not helped either.

But Auburn — no matter where it turns for line help — is not going to come upon a seasoned veteran.

Tiger linemen had 15 combined career starts heading into this season.

Tulsa’s starting five had 11 career starts going into the 2007 season, and the Golden Hurricane put up 542.5 yards per game.

The main problem with Auburn’s offense this year seems to be one of consistency.

Malzahn’s calling card in his time at the college ranks has been finding a team’s strengths early in the season and augmenting his offense around them.

The Tigers haven’t displayed enough steadiness yet for Malzahn to get a true feel for what exactly this team can do.

The run game has sparkled at times, but Auburn doesn’t yet have an answer through the air for when teams stack the box against the run.

“That’s the bottom line for us,” Malzahn said. “The challenge that I’ve got is I’ve got to get us more consistent.”

With only four games left to go, Malzahn realizes time’s running out if he wants to get his team there.

“We’re just waiting on somebody to step up and I’m very confident that will happen,” Malzahn said. “We just need to do that pretty quick.”

MID-SEASON SWOON

Gus Malzahn’s vaunted offense has fallen on hard times over the past four games. After starting the season fairly strong, Auburn’s attack has been nothing more than mediocre over the past month.

POINTS PER GAME
First Four Games: 34.3

Past Four Games: 14.3

YARDS PER GAME
First Four Games: 373.8

Past Four Games: 319.8

PLAYS PER GAME
First Four Games: 59.5

Past Four Games: 71.5

YARDS PER PLAY
First Four Games: 6.3

Past Four Games: 4.5

RUSH YARDS PER GAME
First Four Games: 171.8

Past Four Games: 194.8

YARDS PER RUSH
First Four Games: 5.0

Past Four Games: 4.0

PASS YARDS PER GAME
First Four Games: 202.0

Past Four Games: 125.0

YARDS PER PASS
First Four Games: 8.0

Past Four Games: 5.6

RUN-PASS PLAY RATIO
First Four Games: 57.6-42.4

Past Four Games: 68.5-31.5

RUN-PASS YARD RATIO
First Four Games: 46.0-54.0

Past Four Games: 60.9-39.1