Auburn has risen to the top of the SEC leaderboard in a number of statistical categories in two seasons under head coach Gus Malzahn.
Whether they are fielding the top rushing offense in 2013 and 2014 or topping the league in punt returns this season, Malzahn's Tigers top the conference in more than just the final standings.
But Auburn has become an SEC leader in a startling new category this season: penalties.
After finishing in the middle of the pack last season, the Tigers lead the conference in penalty yards per game and have been backed up 547 yards because of infractions. That's 45 yards worse than Missouri, the SEC's next most penalized.
It's not that the Tigers are committing the most penalties. They're only ninth worst in the conference in that category.
But the penalties they are committing are damaging and often untimely, putting the offense behind schedule and bailing opponents out of tight situations.
Perhaps the most egregious example of Auburn's penalty prowess came in last week's 35-31 escape in Oxford, Mississsippi.
Of the Tigers' 13 penalties, which totaled a season-high 145 yards, their final two, a late hit by Ricardo Louis and a defensive holding by Jonathon Mincy, allowed Ole Miss to drive within range of a go-ahead touchdown.
We all know how Auburn escaped that situation: Kris Frost forced a fumble as Laquon Treadwell was entering the end zone, an outcome likely caused by the gruesome injury he suffered on the play.
I'm not a proponent of the idea that Auburn's success is largely founded in luck. That said, the Tigers were lucky to survive Saturday night.
As often as we've seen Nick Marshall, D'haquille Williams and Cameron Artis-Payne make championship plays this season, it's become just as common for the Tigers to commit inexcusable, potentially back-breaking penalties.
Auburn is as talented a team as they come in 2014, so it'll be disappointing if that talent falls short of the College Football Playoff because of silly, unnecessary penalties.
Eric Wallace is the sports editor of The Plainsman. He can be reached at sports@theplainsman.com.
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