NASHVILLE — Auburn annihilated Purdue in the Music City Bowl Friday.

You saw it. You were amazed. You wondered: Where was that during the regular season?

It's a trick question. This 63-14 spectacle was because of the regular season. This was because of the effort to fire Gus Malzahn days after the Iron Bowl. This was because Malzahn's hand-picked offensive coordinator, Chip Lindsey, packed his office and left for Kansas without a token moment of reflection. This was because Malzahn, it seemed, was among the only human beings alive who considered him a good choice to continue as Auburn's head coach in 2019.

All that drama, all that consternation, set a tone that made Friday a possibility.

Then it became a reality.

It's an understatement to say that Auburn looked better against Purdue. Scoring eight touchdowns with its first eight possessions is the height of success. The defense conceded a few explosive plays while learning how to corral the Boilermakers' outstanding slot receiver, Rondale Moore, yet Purdue went silent until late in the third quarter.

All that was left was Auburn and its revitalized offense setting a record for most points scored in one half of a bowl. Ever. And the record for most points scored in a bowl by any Southeastern Conference team. Rushing touchdowns. Passing touchdowns. Even a pick six.

One could argue it was among most comprehensive Auburn victories in a generation.

How did this happen?

Malzahn was forced to look inward during those few weeks after the Iron Bowl. He took ownership of the offense, sure, and that will be discussed in perpetuity until Auburn takes the field against Oregon next fall. Yet it's more than simply commandeering the play sheet. It was about putting thought, serious thought, into why Auburn's offense flailed so badly during the regular season despite featuring some excellent players.

That introspection didn't yield any incredible breakthroughs. Malzahn has firm ideas about how Auburn's offense will operate with him in charge and the plays didn't deviate from the 2018 norm Friday. It was a regular day in that sense.

Yet the Tigers substituted far less often Friday. From a strategic perspective, Malzahn's insistence to curtail his personnel groupings after almost every snap was a limiting factor throughout the fall. It slowed the offense to a crawl. It limited chemistry, cohesion. It was counter-productive.

Those shackles were broken against Purdue. Auburn accentuated pace as a concept, not merely a situational tool, and that made those "old plays" more difficult to defend.

There's also the matter of Purdue's linemen on both sides of the ball not being up to Auburn's standard. At one point during the third quarter, defensive tackle Derrick Brown lifted both arms facing the Purdue offensive front as if to ask: Can any of you guys block me?

There was no answer. None was needed.

The Tigers' offensive line also managed to win more than its fair share of individual encounters, which helped the run game in obvious ways and the pass game more subtly. Jarrett Stidham always had time to throw. Darius Slayton always had time to get open.

It was a collaboration made in heaven.

It's also a collaboration Malzahn identified as a game-changer during the weeks leading up to Friday's game. Those plays were called, the throws caught. The strategy unfolded as planned. Auburn hasn't made a habit of capitalizing on its strengths during the past few seasons. Can we now infer that Malzahn has turned a corner?

If the past indeed is prologue, don't hop on that lily pad just yet. Malzahn tends to coach most competently with his back against the wall. And, well, he had his entire body against the wall in late November. The pressure never will be greater.

Malzahn must continue tapping into the emotions or the resolve or even the anxieties that fueled him during the past month. Even those not enamored with the Tigers' coach acknowledged that Malzahn worked with a different attitude while preparing for Purdue. He was more terse. He was louder. He treated this one like his own personal Super Bowl, one observer told me.

Every game can't be the Super Bowl, of course.

Still, every game can feature thoughtful strategy that dovetails with the team's personnel strengths and the program's identity. That's what allowed Malzahn to ascend from anonymity in the first place. He must get back into that zone. Pace can't be a practice habit. Allowing drives to unfold organically rather than double-clutching with sundry substitutions must be the standard and not the anomaly.

If things go back to "normal" next season, Malzahn won't make it to November.

If this Music City performance represents a legitimate step forward, however, the scenes next fall could be remarkable. Might this be a 2003-style penance paid before a 2004-style reclamation? Sure, there are differences. Nobody will mistake Kenny Dillingham with Al Borges, personally or professionally, and the odds-on favorite at quarterback graduated from high school a few weeks back. With that said, Malzahn will return most everyone else on his side of the ball and Kevin Steele tends to manage his side of the bargain without much issue.

Athletic director Allen Greene surely feared that a difficult regular season, an attempted coup against the head coach and a standard bowl performance would yield remarkable apathy. This bowl game changed the dynamic a bit. It will create hope in certain corners of the Auburn sphere — and hope, from Greene's perspective, is a very good thing.

Hope creates interest. Hope sells tickets. Hope drives capital campaigns.

At least Auburn has that going for it now.

Who says bowl games mean nothing?

To a head coach under fire and a program careening toward mediocrity, this Music City Bowl meant a lot. Now we wait to see if it the win was a fluke or a true catalyst for change.