Todd J. Van Emst | AU Media Relations
Ask anyone ... Auburn’s got a problem.
But the Tigers are OK with it.
Actually, they’re more than OK. They’re grrrrrrrreat! (Sorry. Couldn’t help it.)
Auburn offensive coordinator Tony Franklin has said, more than once, it’s a good problem to have.
And why wouldn’t it be?
Having two quarterbacks with the talent and potential of Kodi Burns and Chris Todd, coaches have said there’s really no downside.
Two is better than one. Right?
So, really, what’s the big deal?
Not having a clear-cut No. 1 signal-caller isn’t the end of the world. In fact, it’s the beginning.
Why?
Because no one knows exactly how good (or how bad) either quarterback is.
Neither have played an entire game in the SEC. Neither has had to deal with that kind of pressure.
Sure, Burns played in nine games as a true freshman (starting one), and was instrumental in helping Auburn to a Chick-fil-A Bowl win over Clemson. But, can he do it week in and week out? Can he carry the load? No one knows.
And what about Todd?
Sure, he was a prized recruit out of high school. He played in five games while a redshirt freshman at Texas Tech before transferring to Hutchinson Community College. He’s had major college football experience.
But there’s been a layoff. Oh, and there’s that shoulder problem that hindered him all of spring practice.
Right now, there are more question marks than exclamation points when it comes to the two QBs.
Maybe that’s why there’s no front-runner.
“Those guys are neck-and-neck to me right now,” senior wide receiver Rod Smith said. “Like Coach Franklin says every day, we have a major problem. We have two great quarterbacks, and we don’t know who’s going to pull ahead of one another.”
Problem? Or. Problem!
It doesn’t matter who you talk to, everyone at Auburn says both quarterbacks are tied. Every day. Every practice. All the time.
Neither has played poorly enough to fall out of the competition, though, neither has played great enough, either.
Franklin has compared it to a heavyweight championship fight. Just when you think one has thrown the knockout blow, the other bounces back and delivers a haymaker of his own.
Now that’s fierce competition. And competition makes everyone better. Which is why the Tigers don’t see it as a bad problem.
They know, regardless of who’s under center during the season, the guy taking the snaps is going to be better because of the other one pushing him for the job.
Competition also develops character. And leadership.
That’s the way junior cornerback — and one of the team’s leaders — Jerraud Powers looks at it.
“I want my quarterback to just lead — show a lot of leadership and make plays,” Powers said. “Both of them are making plays right now and showing a tremendous amount of leadership.
“If I’m Coach Franklin, I wouldn’t know what to do, or how to separate the two. … They both played well. They both moved the ball. They both showed leadership.”
The closer the season gets, the closer the quarterbacks remain. Maybe a two-quarterback system isn’t so bad.
Maybe you don’t need just one. Two’s better. Right?
Could it be that problem’s already solved?!?!
MIKE SZVETITZ is sports editor of the Opelika-Auburn News. He may be reached at or 737-2513.
Comments
Tommy “The Riverboat Gambler” Tuberville’s inability to man up and call his two quarterbacks in his office and walk out with one the clearcut starter and other the reserve/back-up is going to cost Auburn games this year. Maybe a few of them. Maybe all of the big 6. It will cost Auburn games in the future when it is difficult to recruit players to come to Auburn, especially Quarterbacks. It may cost Tommy Tuberville his job, faster than you can imagine. Kodi “Blunt” Burns does not have the arm that football-launching Chris Todd brings to the table. Either way, Tuberville would be better to pick one or the other and go with it rather than try the time-tested and always-failed technique of rotating quarterbacks(other than for specialty running plays). This will spell disaster for Auburn, and the season will be an embarrassment that will take years to recover from. Combined with a better than expected season by Alabama and we will be spelling TRAGETY in the headlines, this year, and for a long time to come.
mB
http://www.fargoneworld.blogspot.com
Posted by Nico on 08/20 at 02:19 PM
Tommy Tuberville’s indecision will destroy Auburn football season!
Despite affirming at SEC Media Days less than a month ago that a 2-quarterback system (aside from using a gimmick running qb on third down and goal line situations) is one that he whole-heartedly disbelieved in, Tommy Tuberville is not steering his ship any closer to chosing a starter, and essentially, a leader for his team. There will be a lack of focus early, and with big games coming quick in Auburn’s schedule, any sort of stumble can be mega-disasterous.
Chris Todd, the veritable arm cannon, is competing for the starting job with the prototypical gimick running quarterback--Kodi “Blunt” Burns--whose effectiveness as a passer or leader has yet to be seen. And instead of deciding between the two sometime during-or-after spring practices and scrimages, thus allowing a summer and pre-season to gear toward a specific assemblage of skill players, the coaching staff has found it more wise to put off making this all-important decision until, presumably, opening kickoff.
Which is exactly what a team with many question marks on both sides of the ball needs to do more than anything. It needs to let lingering uncertainties fester in a sort of sargasso-like purgatory, letting the media hawkishly hover and peck at the obviously divine decision-making ability the new Tony Franklin offensive regime brings to the table. Obviously Tony Franklin’s patented offensive system is so good it doesn’t even matter who run’s it.
This is good news to Tommy “The Riverboat Gambler” Tuberville, who likes to know that his often sublimely idiotic decisions late in the game can be bailed out by an undefeatable patented offensive scheme that is ran by over 275 high schools and universities. Surely no one has ever devoted ANY TIME AT ALL to devising a defense to defend against such tom-foolery.
Only time will tell, and it seems that it is Auburn’s die-hard fans who will be punished for the next few months.
mB
Posted by Nico on 08/20 at 05:46 PM
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