Hope is all but gone at Auburn with Bryan Harsin sure to follow

"And it didn't work."

That's what Bryan Harsin said, buff, brash and full of chest, back at SEC Media Days in July. He dissed and dismissed last winter's "inquiry" into his fitness to lead the Auburn football program.

One day that quote may lead his Auburn obit. Who could argue with any conviction if we beat the rush and started writing it today after Penn State 41, Auburn 12?

Too soon? Or too little, too late? From the little details to the big picture, it looks like Auburn may have missed its window of opportunity to make something of this season when it decided to let Harsin return.

The first Jordan-Hare Stadium visitor ever from the Big Ten handed the home team its worst home loss in a decade. Gene Chizik already had one foot out the door in 2012 when Georgia blanked Auburn 38-0.

Post-2010 Chizik comparisons are the opposite of a compliment.

The Tigers now have lost five straight games against Power 5 opponents, a drought one game longer than any similar stretch authored by Gus Malzahn. In 10 games against teams its own size under Harsin, Auburn is 3-7. That is further futility of Chizikian proportions. ...

Read more from Kevin on the beginning of the end of a head coach who simply doesn't fit, which was inevitable almost from the start. In The Lede.

Bryan Harsin looks for answers at Auburn that just aren't there. (Austin Perryman/Auburn Athletics)