MALZAHN’S RUN WITH AUBURN IS OVER
Auburn fired football coach Gus Malzahn, ending an eight-year run that began with a trip to the national championship game.
Athletic Director Allen Greene announced the firing Sunday, a day after the Tigers finished the regular season with a 24-10 victory over Mississippi State. Auburn is 6-4 in a pandemic-shortened season of all Southeastern Conference opponents, losing by double digits to highly ranked teams Alabama, Georgia and Texas A&M.
The Tigers also were upset by a struggling South Carolina, which wound up firing coach Will Muschamp during the season.
“After evaluating the state of the Auburn football program, we’ve decided that it was time to make a change in leadership,” Greene said in a statement.
“We appreciate everything that Gus did for the program over the last eight seasons.”
Defensive coordinator Kevin Steele will be interim coach. Auburn will owe Malzahn a $21.45 million buyout for the remaining four years of a seven-year, $49 million deal.
The school must pay half of that within 30 days.
Malzahn went 68-35 in eight seasons and was 39-27 against SEC opponents. He led the Tigers to an SEC title in 2013, his first season, losing to Florida State in the national championship game.
Auburn said Greene recommended the firing to President Jay Gogue after conducting a “thorough analysis” of the program.
Illinois fires Smith
Illinois fired coach Lovie Smith with a game left in its ninth consecutive losing season.
Smith became Illinois’ first Black head football coach when he was hired by Athletic Director Josh Whitman in March 2016. The longtime NFL coach went 1739 in five seasons at the school.
Smith’s original deal was for six years and $21 million, but he received a two-year extension through 2023 after Illinois went 4-8 in his third season.
QBs on the move
McKenzie Milton committed to transfer to Florida State as the former Central Florida quarterback looks to complete his comeback from a serious leg injury.
A Twitter post on Milton’s account, complete with a photoshopped image of him in a Florida State uniform, said he was committed to the Seminoles. Milton confirmed his intentions to ESPN.
Also, Baylor quarterback Charlie Brewer posted on Twitter that he was leaving the Bears and intends to play elsewhere as a graduate transfer next season.
Notable
The game between rivals Minnesota and Wisconsin will be played after all, Big Ten officials announced.
The game that was called off last month due to concern over COVID-19 cases within the Gophers program is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.
It would be the 130th meeting between the teams, which is the longest-running uninterrupted series in Football Bowl Subdivision history and is the mostplayed rivalry in FBS history. Wisconsin and Minnesota have played every year since 1907.
• Virginia (5-5, 4-5 ACC) is not going to a bowl game this season. A week before bowl announcements are due, on Dec. 20, the Cavaliers announced that their football season is over and they will not be entertaining an invitation to a postseason game.
• Memphis (7-3, 5-3 American Athletic) and Florida Atlantic (5-3, 4-2 Conference USA) accepted bids to play in the Dec. 23 Montgomery Bowl.
• Appalachian State (8-2) and North Texas (4-5) will play in the first Myrtle Beach Bowl in Conway, S.C., on Dec. 21.
Late results
Stanford 27, Oregon State 24: Davis Mills passed for 292 yards and a touchdown, and ran for two scores to lead visiting Stanford (3-2 Pac-12) over Oregon State (2-4) on Saturday night.
New Mexico 49, Fresno State 39: Bobby Cole ran for 138 yards and three touchdowns, Nathaniel Jones added two more rushing TDs, and New Mexico (2-5 Mountain West) beat Fresno State (3-3) on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Hawaii 38, UNLV 21: Chevan Cordeiro was 20of-33 passing for 252 yards and added two of Hawaii’s five rushing touchdowns as the Rainbow Warriors (4-4 Mountain West) beat visiting Nevada-Las Vegas(0-6) on Saturday.