re: If Auburn finishes 7-6, would that make them mediocre?

Yes. Stranger things have happened. Gus has had success everywhere he has gone. If he can open the offense up the way he has done in the past (throughout his career), then playing defense shouldn't be such an issue. Not exactly my favorite style of football, but Auburn knew that when we hired Malzahn. QB play has been the dagger so far. But if you live by the sword, you die by it as evidenced thus far with the Tigers. Either way, I don't expect Auburn to have a very good defense any time soon.