Chris Todd will start at quarterback for Auburn this weekend. Kodi Burns is "questionable," but HC Tommy Tuberville said that didn't factor into the decision to start Todd. Apparently, Tuberville and OC Tony Franklin had an agreement that Burns would start one week and Todd would start the next.
Does that sound familiar? Perhaps like playing one quarterback one series and another quarterback on the next?
Either way, at least Auburn took all the drama out of the QB situation this week. If Burns is healthy enough to play -- and I would bet the farm on him playing after every receiver plus Todd and Brad Lester today said he looked fine in practice -- both will still play.
Franklin has promised a new rotation scheme, but how it works remains to be seen and is still at least a mystery to the media. My hunch is Todd will get the first few series and Burns will get his first snap either late in the first quarter or early in the second. We'll have to wait until Saturday to know for certain.
I also believe this will be the last week of Auburn having co-starters. After last week's performance, both QBs would have to light up the scoreboard like a pinball machine for the Tiegrs to carry the two-QB disaster into Starkville. Franklin, Tuberville and most of the players want to have both QBs play, but for one of them to be "the guy."
Will it hurt one of the QBs' feelings? Absolutely. Is it a necessity for Auburn to contend for the SEC West? I believe so.
Several people have said the QBs looked like they were too afraid to lose the position and not brave enough to win the position. After six months of competition, both QBs had a lot to lose on Saturday.
Not any more. Burns and Todd have to trust themselves and the offense more this week. If they don't, the short passing game won't be available because teams won't respect the deep pass -- pretty much what happened last week.
Look for Franklin to find ways to get both QBs to take vertical chances early in their outings and see which QB has the most confidence in unleashing the deep pass.
Wednesday's story is about DT Tez Doolittle, who made a triumphant return to the football field Saturday after his career supposedly ended with a devastating injury in preseason camp 07.
The SEC certainly had its bright spots in the opening weekend of college football -- none moreso than Alabama's dominant effort against Clemson on Saturday night. Ole Miss, LSU, Florida and Kentucky also posted impressive wins over the weekend. Hey, Vandy even won.
The lowlights: Tennessee deciding to play things far too conservatively in its OT loss to UCLA, Mississippi State losing to La. Tech and Arkansas getting pushed to the limit by Division I-AA Western Illinois.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment