Today we have head coach Tommy Tuberville, QB Chris Todd, C Ryan Pugh and PK Wes Byrum.

After months of saying things to the contrary, head coach Tommy Tuberville basically said today that Auburn doesn't have the right parts to run the "Tony Franklin Offense" in its true form. Here's what he had to say:

"I love this offense. It's going to be great. I'm glad we've gone to it. It's going to give us some options. We're 4-1 and played a very tough schedule to this point and we hadn't hardly seen anything from this offense. Once we get going it's going to be much better. There's no panic mode.

"The only thing that we do, and I make sure we give our players the opportunity with the talent we have. One day we'll have the talent that we can say, 'Well, we'll run 100 percent of what Tony likes to run.' Right now, we don't have that talent in some areas. We have to take advantage of our offense, the talent, versus the defenses that we play. Some weeks we'll look a little different. Some weeks we'll look the same. But I like it."

Asked if he would stick with the same offense next year, Tuberville said this:

"Oh yeah. But we'll always tweak it. We don't run Tony Franklin's spread offense. This is Auburn's offense. It's like our defense. We're going to run what works and what we're going to match up better with the other team. Everybody has to do that. You can't put a -- how does it go? -- a square peg in a round hole. Why would you do that?

"I'm here to win games. I'm not here to win friends and run for public office. Our players understand that. You get in these battles in these games we're in, you better go in with some confidence, not just with your coaches, but your players' confidence that it's going to work. The spread offense is a heck of an offense. We're going to run more of it as we go. Heck, we might run it 100 percent this week just depending on the situation."

Seems like stuff everybody already knew. It's just refreshing to hear it from the head coach.

Tried to get this up yesterday but the Web site was giving me trouble. Plenty of offensive coordinator Tony Franklin on here, along with defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads, safety Zac Etheridge, right tackle Jason Bosley and tight end Tommy Trott.

Sophomore OL Chaz Ramsey was granted a limited release from his football scholarship at Auburn on Monday, his father, Key Ramsey, confirmed over the phone.

Ramsey, a Madison, Miss. native, has been given permission to transfer to any school outside of the SEC. He can also transfer to either of his home-state SEC schools, Ole Miss and Mississippi State.

He might also remain at Auburn. In that scenario, he would not play football, his father said.

Ramsey has been away from the team this fall after undergoing offseason back surgery.

Auburn's run of nationally televised games will end Oct. 11 when it hosts Arkansas.

The game will be available on a pay-per-view basis in Alabama and Arkansas to cable subscribers who have DirectTV or Dish Network. Other home dish owners should contact 1-800-TV-STARS to order the game.

Kickoff for the game is 5 p.m. EST.

Antonio Coleman earned SEC defensive player of the week honors after making 4 tackles, 1 sack and 1½ tackles for a loss against Tennessee. The Volunteers had a season-low 191 yards of offense, their lowest total against Auburn since 1988.

Here's a question: who's having the better season on the Tigers' defensive line -- AC or Sen'Derrick Marks?

Here are their stats:

AC: 19 tackles, 7 TFL, 4 sacks, 7 QBH, 1 FF
Sen'Derrick: 19 tackles, 8 TFL, 2 sacks, 2 PBU, 2 QBH

Close call. Any thoughts?

ESPN's College GameDay will be in Nashville this week at the Auburn-Vanderbilt game. It's the second time in three weeks the Tigers will be GameDay's on-site game (the LSU game).

Auburn is ranked No. 13. Vandy is No. 19, getting into the rankings last week for the first time since 1984. Game time is 6 p.m. EST.

I guess Vandy is a unique spot for GameDay. Plus, the rest of the game this week were pretty bad. These were the only other interesting matchups:

• No. 4 Missouri at Nebraska: the Huskers just lost to Virginia Tech last night.
• No. 23 Oregon at No. 9 USC: lost some luster after the Oregon State debacle, plus GameDay was in L.A. for the Ohio State game.
• No. 14 Ohio State at No. 18 Wisconsin: this would have been it, but the Badgers choked at Michigan yesterday.

Per head coach Tommy Tuberville this afternoon, Chris Todd remains Auburn's starting quarterback and Kodi Burns will come off the bench as a change of pace.

Tuberville said Burns played about 25 snaps against Tennessee, a number he would like to see increase. But he's still committed to Todd as the starter.

"Chris will be our starter," Tuberville said. "Kodi did make some athletic plays, and the more he plays the better he's going to get. And we need to get him in there, but still, you need to have a starting quarterback and a backup."

Kind of interesting that Vandy had a bye and moved up five spots. I guess that's how volatile the poll is this early in the season.

1. Oklahoma 4-0
2. Alabama 5-0
3. LSU 4-0
4. Missouri 4-0
5. Texas 4-0
6. Penn State 5-0
7. Texas Tech 4-0
8. BYU 4-0
9. USC 2-1
10. South Florida 5-0
11. Georgia 4-1
12. Florida 3-1
13. Auburn 4-1
14. Ohio State 4-1
15. Utah 5-0
16. Kansas 3-1
17. Boise State 3-0
18. Wisconsin 3-1
19. Vanderbilt 4-0
20. Virginia Tech 4-1
21. Oklahoma State 4-0
22. Fresno State 3-1
23. Oregon 4-1
24. Connecticut 5-0
25. Wake Forest 3-1

Now that Auburn's 14-12 win against Tennessee has had some time to soak in , here are some day-after thoughts:

-- If you didn't like all the quarterback controversy stories between Chris Todd and Kodi Burns earlier this year, you're not going to like this week. It will start today (though I can't imagined Tommy Tuberville will make either available). Still, Tuberville and offensive coordinator Tony Franklin will speak today, so we should get some preliminary thoughts.

Here's my take: play them both. It's not ideal, but neither are either of them. Todd looked good, particularly early on, with the passing game, and Burns was definitely a shot in the arm when he entered the game.

I saw Virginia Tech employ a similar tactic last season with Sean Glennon and Tyrod Taylor and the Hokies won the ACC. I don't see anything wrong with riding the hot hand or playing a certain quarterback more due to matchups.

-- I think the defense did a pretty good job in proving the LSU game was a fluke. Tennessee, a major Division I school for those who might have fogotten, had 191 total yards, 67 passing yards and only 9 first downs.

A funny stat is that no Volunteers receiver had more than one catch. Eight different players had one reception.

-- This "Wildcat" offense or Single Wing or whatever the heck you want to call it, is all over the place. I just saw an NFL highlight where the Jaguars used it for a 40-yard touchdown run. It seems like a nice wrinkle. Honestly, Tennessee's best offense was when it snapped the ball directly to Gerald Jones.

It will be interesting to see if Auburn continues to use this formation with Mario Fannin. He looked comfortable running it and it gives defenses another thing to think about. It's not a bad idea.

-- It kind of got glossed over in the win, but Tuberville sounded serious about kicker Wes Byrum losing his job if he doesn't get his act together. Quite simply, you can't miss field goals from 20 to 39 yards. The question is, does Auburn have anybody else who can take his place? It would seem to be Morgan Hull or nobody.

-- I wouldn't want to be Phil Fulmer this week. Just looking at Tennessee's schedule, it's not going to get much easier. The Vols still play at Georgia, vs. Alabama, at South Carolina and at Vanderbilt. Eesh.

More later once we hear Tuberville talk this afternoon.

As promised (though a little later than I would have liked) here’s a look at the Auburn-Tennessee game for tomorrow, which I think could be closer than I originally thought.

I made the prediction of 27-13 Auburn in a writers pick ’em on AuburnSports.com, but the more I look at the Volunteers’ defense, which played much better than it appears in last week’s 30-6 blowout against Florida, the more I think it will be a lower-scoring affair. Revised pick: Auburn 20, Tennessee 13.

On a side note, Auburn’s favored by 6½ on most betting sites. And as usual, Vegas knows a heck of a lot more about predicting scores than I do. (On a second side note, I swear I made my revised pick before looking up the line. Really, I did. Why would I lie to you?)

ANYWAY, let’s break this sucker down position by position, shall we?

Quarterback: Neither team has a Heisman contender at this spot. Auburn’s Chris Todd had his moments against a pretty darn good LSU defense last week, throwing for 250 yards and making some big plays. I still don’t think his arm looks all too impressive and wonder, after his surgery last offseason, if it will ever be back to normal strength. Tennessee’s Jonathan Crompton might be as difficult to figure out. He’s fourth in the SEC in passing with 197.0 yards per game, but has thrown four touchdowns and isn’t in the top-10 in the conference in passing efficiency. Whoever doesn’t kill his team with mistakes might be the better QB in this one. Advantage: Push.

Running back: It’s funny how much Brad Lester’s injuries have grabbed headlines the last couple weeks. Ben Tate, despite being a backup, has led the team in rushing in every game and will probably do so again on Saturday. Vols running back Arian Foster sounds like the real deal. Anybody who is closing in on being a school’s leading rusher has to be doing something right. The Tigers have more depth, though. Advantage: Auburn.

Receivers: Auburn’s wideouts looked better against LSU, making some big plays (honestly, though, what receiver wouldn’t have caught that pass Tim Hawthorne did when nobody was in the same zip code?). But it still doesn’t seem like there’s a No. 1 guy in the group. Tennessee’s got Lucas Taylor and Gerald Jones, who have the big-time receiver skills Auburn’s seem to lack. Advantage: Tennessee.

Offensive line: Tough to get the image of the look-out block left tackle Lee Ziemba gave that derailed Auburn’s final drive last week out of my mind. This unit needs to show improvement for the Tigers to get their spread attack going. The Vols, meanwhile, have allowed two sacks in three games. Two! Plus, Tennessee is rushing for 5.1 yards per carry. Auburn’s a yard behind at 4.1. Advantage: Tennessee.

Defensive line: Tough to find a group much better than Auburn’s with Sen’Derrick Marks and Antonio Coleman both having all-SEC worthy seasons. The big stat here, I think, is how much pressure they’re putting on the quarterback. The Tigers have 10 sacks this year. The Vols have 3. Case closed. Advantage: Auburn.

Linebackers: There are few linebackers in the conference who have gotten in on more tackles than Tennessee’s Ellix Wilson, who is fourth in the conference with 25 stops. WLB Rico McCoy has made his share of plays too. Auburn’s linebackers probably had one of their worst games against LSU, which ran roughshod over the defense. Advantage: Tennessee.

Secondary: Both groups have been solid this year, though neither probably wants last week’s games on their résumés. Auburn’s depth is a problem here. Corners Jerraud Powers and Walter McFadden are basically pulling iron-man duties, and free safety Zac Etheridge has been banged up. Advantage: Tennessee.

Punting: I’ll break the special teams categories up because they all seem so important. Here’s a category that probably has the biggest disparity. Auburn gets Clinton Durst back after a bout with the flu last week. His absence was noticeable against LSU, when a pair of shanked punts cost Auburn late. Tennessee’s punting game is a mess. The Vols rank last in the SEC in net punting (22.0) and return yards (11.3 avg.). Plus, they gave up a return for a touchdown against Florida. Advantage: Auburn.

Kicking: Auburn’s Wes Byrum didn’t get a chance last week to shake off the short miss he had against Mississippi State. He’s still 5-for-8 on the season. Tennessee’s Daniel Lincoln, an all-SEC kicker last season, is 1-for-4, though two of those misses were from 50-plus. Advantage: Push.

Returners: Robert Dunn didn’t get a chance to do much last week for Auburn, held in check by good LSU punting. He’s still third in the SEC with a 21.4-yard return average. The Tigers’ kick return game has been abysmal, though, ranking last in the SEC with a 17.8-yard average. Tennessee, meanwhile, is second in kick returns (27.1), thanks in large part to Dennis Rogan, who has eight returns for 215 yards. It’s easier to negate punt returners than kick returners. Advantage: Tennessee.

Coaches: Both Tommy Tuberville and Phil Fulmer, the two longest tenured coaches in the conference, are as seasoned as it comes in the SEC. They know the ups and downs. Tuberville has the advantage of not being under as much pressure. Tennessee is off to its second straight 1-2 start and Fulmer is hearing it from fans (funny, since the Vols seemed to shake off last year’s slow start and make the SEC championship game). Let’s just say it’s never a good sign when the coach is promising fans during his press conference that the coaching staff hasn’t gotten stupid all of a sudden. Advantage: Auburn.

So there it is. Like I said, I think this matchup is a lot closer than a lot of people think. I’ll give the edge to Auburn because I think its defense is better, especially on the d-line, which should be motivated to prove last week was a fluke. And don’t discount the homefield advantage. I can’t picture Auburn losing two straight at Jordan-Hare.

Anybody else have some thoughts?

Here are a few clips of head coach Tommy Tuberville and running backs/special teams coach Eddie Gran.

I'll do a little more breakdown on the Auburn-Tennessee game tomorrow. Enjoy.

A few things today:

-- Finally, somebody calls out the defensive players for claiming all their problems last week were due to "miscommunication" and "misalignments."

"That's bull crap," defensive tackles coach Don Dunn said. "If they can see, they can get the call. I don't buy into that."

-- WR Mario Fannin could return to running back later this season if his surgically repaired shoulder holds up well the next few games.

-- Dunn on the defensive tackles, who all seem about even right now: "None of them have a permanent job." Sounds like they better be on their game at all times.

-- Everybody who has been nicked up practiced Thursday except RB Tristan Davis, who got kneed in the head on a kick return last week. It doesn't sound like he'll be ready for Saturday.

Looks like these notes didn't make it up on our newspaper Web site from yesterday, so I'll just post them here:

By Andy Bitter
sports@ledger-enquirer.com

AUBURN, Ala. – The plan for Saturday is to get backup quarterback Kodi Burns some snaps against Tennessee.

Of course, that’s been Auburn’s plan the last few weeks. It just hasn’t worked out that way.

Burns, who was neck-and-neck throughout preseason camp with Chris Todd, hasn’t taken a snap since the Southern Mississippi game, watching both the Mississippi State and LSU games from the sidelines.

“We feel good about Kodi going in, but it’s just hard to pull the trigger as the head coach, knowing that the (starter) is doing pretty good, especially last week,” Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville said.

Todd went 17-for-32 for 250 yards against LSU, with a touchdown and two interceptions.

Tuberville has wanted to get Burns some action but hasn’t found a window of opportunity. Auburn squeaked by Mississippi State 3-2 and lost to LSU 26-21 in a contest that wasn’t decided until the final minute.

“In games like we’ve had the last two games, every snap could mean the difference between winning and losing,” Tuberville said.

Tuberville hopes he’ll find that moment against the Volunteers this Saturday.

“Sooner or later he’s going to go in the game and there’s going to be a standing ovation and the pressure is going to be off him,” Tuberville said. “Then I think he’ll continue to get more and more reps.”

Healing up

Auburn’s injury report was still lengthy but looking better as of Wednesday:

* Defensive end Michael Goggans (ankle) was running around at practice and should play Saturday. Sophomore Zach Clayton moved from tackle to end earlier in the week to give Auburn more depth on the outside.

* Running back Brad Lester (knee) didn’t practice much but participated in some plays.

* Punter Clinton Durst is a little weak after having the flu last week, but he punted Wednesday with what Tuberville termed “a fresher leg.”

* Linebacker Tray Blackmon has a crack in his wrist and will wear a restrictive wrist brace. Both he and outside linebacker Craig Stevens returned to practice Wednesday after being nicked up.

* Free safety Zac Etheridge (shoulder) practiced after taking no contact Tuesday.

* Freshman defensive lineman Jomarcus Savage had season-ending surgery last Thursday on the shoulder he injured near the end of two-a-days. Tuberville said the team will seek a medical redshirt.

Thinking inside the box

Offensive coordinator Tony Franklin chose to go to the coaches’ box against LSU and will remain there for the rest of the season.

“It's easier to call plays from there,” said Franklin, whose offense showed some improvement, scoring 14 points and gaining 320 yards against a stout LSU defense.

Franklin, who has coached both on the sideline and in the box during his career, called plays from the sideline during Auburn’s first three games, wanting to communicate face-to-face with the players as they implemented his new spread offense.

But Franklin felt his play-calling suffered from the field level, so he went to the box and tight ends coach Steve Ensminger came down to handle his duties on the field.

“He had to see the play and make a quick decision in terms of down and distance and personnel on the field,” Tuberville said. “I think it helped us. The communication was a lot better. The guys looked a little bit more confident getting the play in a lot earlier, having a little bit more time to settle down. I think it was a good move.”

A couple quick hitters after speaking to Tommy Tuberville:

-- Stop me if you've heard this before, but Auburn will try to get backup quarterback Kodi Burns some snaps. I'll believe it when he's on the field and not wearing a head set.

-- Lots of injuries out there, although none sound too serious. DE Michael Goggans (ankle), LB Tray Blackmon (wrist) and LB Craig Stevens, RB Brad Lester (knee), FS Zac Etheridge (shoulder) and P Clinton Durst (flu) all practiced Wednesday. Tuberville wasn't joking when he said the LSU game is usually the most physical of the year.

-- Sophomore Zach Clayton has moved from defensive tackle to end to give Auburn some depth. Clayton wasn't playing much, third on the depth chart behind the indefatigable Sen'Derrick Marks, so it seems like a logical move.

-- Auburn hasn't played Tennessee since 2004. That just doesn't seem right. It makes you wonder how they do the scheduling in the SEC.

More tomorrow with -- hopefully -- another video.

Sorry, couldn't get this finished last night. Here are some video clips from Tuesday's press conference that included Tommy Tuberville, Chris Todd and Antonio Coleman.

-- RB Brad Lester, who must have walked under a ladder carrying a black cat some point during the preseason, is fine after undergoing an MRI on his knee over the weekend. Head coach Tommy Tuberville said Lester was running around during practice today.

-- RB Tristan Davis got kicked in the head on one of the returns and is "still a little fuzzy," Tuberville said. He won't get hit in practice this week.

-- Tuberville on this week's opponent, the Volunteers: "Their team is a lot like ours in that they've had a change in offense, a change in offensive coordinators, a new quarterback, and they've had some setbacks, but they're still Tennessee. They're a proud football team that plays very hard."

-- Auburn's defenders continue to claim that they were "misaligned" 90 percent of the time against LSU on Saturday and that's what led to the Bengal Tigers' gaudy rushing stats. Seems a bit high to me. At some point don't you have to give at least a little credit to the other team?

-- DE Gabe McKenzie said his interception return for a touchdown was a completely improvised play. Auburn only had 10 players on the field and no play called, so he followed the back out of the backfield and stepped in the throwing lane.

-- QB Chris Todd had to race out of the athletic complex to prevent his car from being ticketed right after practice (the guy can't seem to get a break right now). Got to give him kudos for still coming back to do interviews with the press afterward. A lot of guys would have skipped out.

That's all for now. Hope to have a video up later.

All right, here's my first shot at a video. Sorry for some of the Blair Witch quality to it. I don't have a tripod for my iFlip camera (if anyone knows where to find one, please let me know).

We've got clips from Tony Franklin, Paul Rhoads, Robert Dunn, Jerraud Powers, Tez Doolittle and Sen'Derrick Marks on this one. I hope to have another one after tomorrow's press conference. Enjoy.

Some interesting matchups on here. Xavier should be tough. I can tell you from personal experience that Virginia will be down, but it plays pretty well in its home building.

2008-09 AUBURN BASKETBALL SCHEDULE (all times Central)

Nov. 7 Morehouse (exh.), 6 pm
Nov. 14 Missouri State, 7 pm
Nov. 19 (1) Mercer, 7 pm
Nov. 22 George Washington, 1 pm
Nov. 25 (1) Bethune-Cookman, 7 pm
Nov. 28 (2) Dayton, 5 pm
Nov. 29 (2) Northern Iowa, 4:30 pm
Dec. 3 at Xavier (CBSCS), 7 pm
Dec. 6 Louisiana-Monroe, 1 pm
Dec. 17 Tuskegee, 7 pm
Dec. 20 at Virginia (FSN), 3 pm
Dec. 22 Alabama State, 7 pm
Dec. 29 Alabama A&M, 7 pm
Dec. 31 Southeastern Louisiana, 3 pm
Jan. 3 Tulane (DH), 4:30 pm
Jan. 10 at South Carolina, TBA
Jan. 14 Florida (Raycom), 7 pm
Jan. 17 Alabama, 1 pm
Jan. 21 at Kentucky (Raycom), 8 pm
Jan. 24 at Arkansas (Raycom), Noon
Jan. 27 Texas-Pan American, 7 pm
Jan. 31 Vanderbilt, 1 pm
Feb. 4 at Ole Miss, 7 pm
Feb. 7 Tennessee (Raycom), Noon
Feb. 11 Arkansas, 7 pm
Feb. 14 Mississippi State (FSN), 4 pm
Feb. 18 at Georgia, 6:30 pm
Feb. 21 at LSU, 7 pm
Feb. 25 Ole Miss, 7 pm
Feb. 28 at Mississippi State (FSN), 5 pm
Mar. 3 at Alabama (ESPN), 8 pm
Mar. 7 LSU, TBA
Mar. 12-15 (3) SEC Tournament (Raycom/CBS), TBA

(1) Chicago Invitational (Auburn, AL)
(2) Chicago Invitational (Hoffman Estates, IL)
(3) Tampa, FL (St. Pete Times Forum)
* All Times Central
(DH) Doubleheader with the Auburn Women

Just handed down from the good folks at Auburn's SID department: Auburn's football game at Vanderbilt on Oct. 4 will be nationally televised on ESPN. Kickoff is 6 p.m. EST.

It is Auburn's fourth straight nationally televised game.

This week, Auburn's game against Tennessee is on CBS at 3:30 p.m. EST.

... and Auburn dropped to 15th in the AP and 16th in the Coaches. Not totally shocking that Auburn didn't freefall. After all, LSU is up to 5th in the AP and 6th in the Coaches.

Take heart, Auburn fans. Of the one-loss teams in the country, you're only behind Ohio State.

Lots of stuff from today's practice that I won't nearly be able to dive into tonight. Check back tomorrow. I'm trying my hand at a few videos. We'll see how that goes.

Here's the thing about deadline football games: they're fun for fans, but they stink for reporters. They really do. And even more so for me, who has an hour earlier deadline because my paper is in the Eastern Time Zone.

So basically, everything is rushed. I don't think there's a writer who is ever satisfied with a game story a tight deadline game. For instance, I wish I would have made mention of Kodi Burns somewhere in mine, or more clearly identified the similarities between Saturday's game and last year's in Baton Rogue, where LSU scored a touchdown when all it needed was a field goal to win. Oh well. You do what you can do to make deadline in these situations.

But the biggest regret of deadline games is not being able to go down and talk to players and coaches afterward. All of my quotes were furiously typed while listening to a TV in the press box. Not ideal.

But, the good folks of Auburn's Sports Information Department are kind enough to transcribe most of the post-game quotes. That said, here are some thoughts now that I've been able to peruse some of them:

-- Offensive coordinator Tony Franklin on the running game: "It stunk. We couldn't run the football. We kept trying to force it and it looked like we had something. The numbers were good a lot of times. We just couldn't run it." Blunt, but honest.

-- Franklin planned to play Burns but never felt the right moment to do so. "I felt like Chris (Todd) had played well and competitive all night and thought he gave us the best chance to win," Franklin said. You have to admit that Todd handled himself much better this week. (Then again, could he have played worse?) Anyway, I don't feel like this offense is as hopeless as many do. LSU will be the best defense Auburn plays against this season. And Auburn still moved the ball at times, with Todd responsible for most of the good things that happened.

-- Head coach Tommy Tuberville defended the play-calling on Auburn's second-to-last possession, including a running play on 3rd-and-10 that produced five yards, forcing a punt that set up LSU's go-ahead drive. "We weren't trying to run the air out of the ball. It was just doing what they were giving us and of course, the thing that they were giving us at the time was forcing us to try to run the ball to see if they could make the tackles." Still think you have to take a shot at trying to throw for a first down there.

-- RB Brad Lester is fine, Tuberville said. He twisted his ankle/knee and could have come back in the game if Auburn wanted to.

-- Clinton Durst got the flu on Tuesday and wasn't better until Saturday morning, which is why Ryan Shoemaker handled Auburn's punting duties. For as well as Shoemaker did in not allowing Trindon Holliday to get a good chance at a return, he averaged a mediocre 35.4 yards on seven punts. LSU's Brady Dalfrey averaged 48.3 yards per punt, a significant difference.

-- LSU running back Charles Scott, got his yardage, finishing with 132 yards, but it wasn't easy. "Right now I am thinking it was the hardest 100 yards of my life," he said afterward.

-- DE Gabe McKenzie's pick in the second quarter was one of the prettier ones you'll see by a defensive end. Then again, he's only been a defensive end for about a month. He played tight end up until this year, explaining his soft hands.

-- I wrote in my Gameline for tomorrow that the key decision was LSU coach Les Miles going back to Jarrett Lee at quarterback despite his dismal first half. Well, as it turns out, he didn't have much choice. Starter Andrew Hatch had a concussion and couldn't go back in. Have I mentioned I dislike the rush of deadline games?

-- The onside kick didn't directly result in points, but you have to admire a coach like Miles who isn't afraid to try something daring to jumpstart his team.

-- For my first Auburn game, I've got to admit the atmosphere was incredible. The War Eagle part was impressive, as was the noise. For a college game, I don't know if I've heard louder. The only place that I can remember being more deafening was a Vikings game at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Then again, that has the unfair advantage of being a closed stadium.

-- As far as classic college games I've seen, this one is up there. The only one that rivals the electricity in the air was when Virginia upset No. 4 Florida State a few years ago in Charlottesville. But I think the back-and-forth nature of this one -- and the fact that both teams were in the top-10 with plenty at stake -- made it much more entertaining.

-- Final thought: I can't imagine this being a backbreaker for Auburn. As last year proved, competing in the SEC is a yearlong struggle. LSU still plays No. 4 Florida, No. 3 Georgia and No. 9 Alabama in the next seven weeks. A lot can happen there.

More tomorrow (actually later today) when Tuberville has his teleconference.

Desmond Howard went with LSU in a close game. Kirk Herbstreit said Auburn will make an interception late to win it.

That left Lee Corso, who at first pulled out an LSU helmet to the boos of the crowd before putting on an Auburn helmet, throwing a roll of toilet paper around and yelling, "Toomer's Corner!"

The picks are in. Anybody else have some thoughts?

Well, it's finally here. The game everyone's been waiting for. It's still over eight hours to kickoff, but here are a few thoughts about the game:

-- Auburn QB Chris Todd and the offense has to get off to a fast start. Easier said than done against an LSU defense that by all accounts is every bit as good as Auburn's. If he doesn't, he'll hear the boos (regardless of what the dean prefers) and so will offensive coordinator Tony Franklin, who was hired to modernize the offense, not take it back to the 1920s when the forward pass was revolutionizing the game and 3 points was a scoring outburst. Everybody's favorite player is the backup quarterback. That seems to apply in this case with Kodi Burns, but if Todd can get the offense moving in the first half, those cries for Kodi to enter the game won't be so loud.

-- That said, I think Burns plays today. Any sign of trouble out of Todd and I don't think coach Tommy Tuberville can't sit and wait for him to figure things out against a defense like LSU's.

-- The Goodyear Blimp is in town, so you know this is a big game.

-- I've written this many times this week but will do it again. Auburn cannot let Trindon Holliday get loose on a return. It seems like an easy fix on punts, where you can just kick it out of bounds or so high the returner can't do anything with it. But there's really no avoiding it on kickoffs. In a game I covered last year, Virginia played Wake Forest and a dynamic kick returner, Kevin Marion. The Cavaliers chose to squib kick the entire game and it worked. They gave up field position that was at or near the 40-yard line every time, but they didn't give up the backbreaking return for a touchdown. We'll see if Tuberville employs a similar concept today, because like he said, Holliday is one of the best he's ever seen.

-- I've seen LSU as anywhere from 1.5- to 3- point favorites. Seems about right since Auburn looked so awful on offense last week. Here's a curious thing, though. The over-under is listed around 37. That seems pretty high for two teams whose last two meetings in the Plains resulted in 10-9 and 7-3 scores.

-- Big key for Auburn is to pressure the quarterback. I know, I know, you can say that about any game at any time, but with Charles Scott as such a solid runner and the offensive line being pretty experienced, quarterback -- where LSU rotates a trio of Andrew Hatch, Jarrett Lee and now, even true freshman Jordan Jefferson -- is the weak link of the offense. I'm sure Antonio Coleman and Sen'Derrick Marks would like to introduce themselves to an LSU signal caller today.

-- Quick tangent: I really dislike it when both teams have the same mascot. I can't write "Tigers" at all without confusing myself and you, the reader.

-- This goes without saying, but Auburn cannot keep fumbling the ball. You can get away with that kind of stuff against the Mississippi States of the world -- and apparently just barely -- but LSU will make you pay. I'm sure running backs coach Eddie Gran hammered that point home pretty well this week.

-- I'll be curious to see if LSU's disjointed start to the season has any effect on the game. LSU has had its second game of the season against Troy pushed back because of Hurricane Gustav. Both of its other games were threatened by storms as well. On top of that, LSU hasn't really been tested, winning its game 41-13 and 41-3 against Appalachian State and North Texas, respectively. Now, Appy State is a good FCS team, but it was not going to sneak up on anyone this year. North Texas is 0-3 and went 2-10 last season. It will be interesting to see if the lack of competition LSU has faced has them unprepared for what everyone involved says is the most physical game of the year.

-- On that note, here's a good quote from C Ryan Pugh on this game: "It's got to be one of the bigger physical games. Besides the Iron Bowl, that's just pure hate, LSU-Auburn is a physical football game. You're going to see big hits. You're going to see people getting after each other. It's going to be entertaining."

-- How do you resolve this head-to-head? Tuberville is 9-3 in its last 12 games against top-10 teams. LSU's Les Miles is 7-3 against top-10 competition since heading to Baton Rogue. Something's got to give.

-- I'm watching ESPN's College GameDay right now. Looks like a pretty good turnout by the stadium. I can see why they like coming here.

-- Prediction time: It's hard for me to give a true opinion on this game because I've been covering the SEC for ... what time is it, again? ... 15 minutes or so. It's hard to go against the home team in a series in which the host school has won eight straight, but I just can't get the image of Auburn's offense from last week out of my mind. Too many mistakes, too many penalties, too few results. You can't do that against a team of LSU's caliber. I'll go LSU in a close one, 13-10.

-- I can't wait to experience a Jordan-Hare gameday. I'll try to post again once I get to the stadium and, hopefully, during the game (night games have brutal deadlines). Come back later for more updates.

-- Just a notebook today on how Auburn plans to contain LSU return extraordinaire Trindon Holliday, RB Brad Lester's injury status, Les Miles' decision to stay at LSU last offseason and the Auburn dean of students preaching positivity for Saturday.

-- RB Brad Lester went full speed at practice and will play Saturday. The senior is still in a green jersey, meaning he’s not taking any contact, but he has full range of motion in his neck, which was coach Tommy Tuberville’s biggest concern. Lester even returned kicks during practice.

-- Heavy special teams day in practice. Tuberville wants to make sure his team is prepared for LSU returner Trindon Holliday. “In my lifetime of watching guys return, he’s about as elusive (as they come),’ Tuberville said.

-- Tuberville backed off some of the running drills this week, wanting to get his teams’ legs back.

-- He also said he’d like the defense to only be on the field in the range of 50 to 55 plays. The D was on the field 68 times against Louisiana-Monroe and 77 times against Southern Miss. That number dropped to 55 against Mississippi State.

-- Main story: Auburn's players still haven't forgotten last year's heartbreaker at LSU.

-- Notebook: RB Brad Lester looks like he'll play, big recruiting weekend, CB Ryan Williams in the "doghouse," plus injury updates.

Here are a few nuggets from Tommy Tuberville's meeting with the media Wednesday night:

-- RB Brad Lester practiced again without any contact, but Tuberville said if Auburn had a game Wednesday, the senior would have played.

"Barring any setback, if he continues to do what he's doing, he'll be ready to go," Tuberville said.

-- FB John Douglas (knee) is not practicing. Backup OG Darrell Roseman (shoulder) is.

-- WR/PR Robert Dunn is fine after landing on his shoulder awkwardly against Mississippi State.

-- Auburn will have six recruits making official visits at the LSU game and 300 to 400 unofficial visitors.

ESPN's College GameDay set will be constructed east of Jordan-Hare Stadium, at the corner of Roosevelt and Duncan Drive on the Allison Physics Lab lawn this weekend.

The show will air live on Saturday, Sept. 21 from 9 to 11 a.m. There will also be segments taped Friday from 3 to 4:30 p.m. and SportsCenter segments on Saturday morning. Fans are encouraged to attend both days.

This should probably be filed under unbelievable shameless promotion, but I feel the need to introduce myself. As I mentioned before, I’m Andy Bitter, the new Auburn beat writer for the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. You can read more about me in this piece the paper ran today. (One clarification: you could say I played for the Eden Prairie baseball team if by “play” you mean “sat on the bench except for when a courtesy runner was needed for the catcher.”)

Anyway, enough about me. That’s not why you come to this blog. I plan to give frequent updates on what’s going on with Auburn athletics, especially football. When information comes out of practice, I’ll post it here first, then elaborate more thoroughly in my stories for the newspaper the next day. (Bear with me for the next couple days until I get the Internet set up in my apartment. I’m hunkered down in a command base at Panera Bread right now just to get online.)

These kinds of blogs aren’t fun without interaction, so I encourage responses. Agree with me. Rip me. Cheer the program. Slam the program. It doesn’t matter to me. Just keep it in good taste so we don’t have to take any comments down.

Within the next week I’d like to start getting some videos up. I’m not sure if this particular blog has that capability, but the site http://www.sec-football.com/ certainly does. Check periodically for new videos.

I would also like to say that this is a living, breathing blog, which requires your input. If you would like to see something on here that is not, put in a comment. I want this blog to serve your interests, not mine.

As a parting shot, there’s this: I’ve got a friend who works for another Virginia newspaper whose editor is an Alabama native and Auburn fan. He e-mailed some helpful bits of information for covering the Auburn beat.

Here are a few of the things he mentioned:

-- “He’ll get a big-time introduction to SEC football with the LSU game. Unless it’s a blowout one way or the other (doubtful), it will be so loud from start to finish that he won’t be able to hear himself think. I covered one Auburn-Alabama game there in 1989 (first year the game was in Auburn) at which the crowd was so wild the press box was swaying and shaking the entire game.”

-- “He’ll need to figure out the AU-Bama rivalry quickly, and I’m sure his editors and readers will make sure he does. It’s nothing like Virginia-Virginia Tech. Everybody in the state chooses sides and they go at each other tooth-and-nail, 365 days a year. Fans of the losing team don’t go to church the next day, while some of the winners will actually wear their fan gear to worship services. Every game, every player, every recruit – every little thing – AU does is compared to Alabama, and vice versa. And every story or brief he writes will be measured against the Bama story the paper had that day for placement, length and any inkling of pro- or anti-AU bias.”

-- “The stadium is pronounced JER-dun Hare, after the late coach Ralph “Shug” Jordan. He won Auburn’s only national championship in 1957 and was considered the epitome of a Southern gentleman. He shouldn’t write anything derogatory about him unless he wants his e-mail and voice mail clogged with death threats.”

-- “Heisman Trophy winners Pat Sullivan and Bo Jackson have pretty close to the same status. And Pat Dye is still revered among the 40 and over crowd like me. He broke a 10-game losing streak to Alabama, moved the Iron Bowl to Auburn and built the program into a national power before getting it put on probation. (Many AU fans consider the violations a set-up by influential Alabama alums). He can pretty much trash ex-coaches Doug Barfield and Terry Bowden at will.”

-- “The nickname is Tigers and the cheer is “War Eagle” or “War Damn Eagle.” But the team should NEVER, EVER be referred to as the War Eagles. Doing so will immediately identify him to the fan base as a clueless moron who should be fired immediately.”

Any other bits of advice out there, preferably ones that would prevent me from looking like a clueless moron or someone who should be fired immediately?

-- Wednesday's main story: The spread is here to stay, so get used to it. Auburn's players claim they're on the verge of good things. It' s just a matter of time.

-- Notebook: RB Brad Lester practiced on Tuesday, LSU's Andrew Hatch didn't take the normal route to being an SEC quarterback (pretty good quote at the end from Antonio Coleman, who I can already tell is one of the best interviews on the team) and both teams have to be careful when kicking the ball.

Quick introduction: this is Andy Bitter, the new Auburn beat writer for the Columbus (Ga.) Ledger-Enquirer.

Quick mission statement: I’d like to get this blog back to its former state, where you can get the Auburn information you need as quickly as possible.

I’ll elaborate in a later post.

For now, here are a few things that came from today’s presser:

-- RB Brad Lester practiced Tuesday afternoon after a scary play over the weekend in which he landed on his head and had to be carted off the field. The senior, who met with several doctors and a neurosurgeon this week, didn’t take any contact.

“He’s still real stiff,” Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said. “He’s got to work the soreness out. He’s got to come a long way between now and Thursday, but he’ll have to have contact before I let him play.”

Tuberville was hopeful Lester could play.

-- QB Kodi Burns’ role still sounds undefined. The sophomore didn’t play against Mississippi State and won’t be used in just short-yardage situations on Saturday, from the sounds of it.

“I don’t want Kodi to learn only one part of the offense,” Tuberville said. “I want him to throw the ball and to run it. In the Southern Miss game, when we put him in and ran it in on the goal line, that’s good, but I think that Chris (Todd) could’ve done the same thing on a 1- to 2-yard run. I want Kodi to make sure that he understands the entire offense. We’ve just started this stuff and he’s going to get better and better in it, but if you go out there and say ‘Ok, Kodi, we are going to make this small package for you and let you run it,’ he’ll never get any better and you’ll never find out what kind of quarterback he is.”

-- As an aside, I love the attitude SEC teams have. This is a big game for Auburn, and nobody’s hiding behind the “one game at a time” drivel most places will spew out.

To wit, safety Mike McNeil’s thoughts about the game: “This game is going to decide who plays in Atlanta for the SEC championship.”

Blunt. And probably accurate, though I’m sure some folks in Tuscaloosa would disagree.

The Chris Todd era has begun for no. 9 Auburn's offense and it won't change based on one mistake.

Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville made that clear during his weekly press conference on Tuesday.

"He's going to be the guy given the reins," Tuberville said. "It won't be a short leash."

Todd was named the Tigers' starting quarterback after a lengthy competition between he and Kodi Burns for the top spot.

Tuberville said Burns would still have a role in the offense.

"Kodi is going to be ready to come in at any time, special situations, and crucial situations when things aren't going too well," Tuberville said.

Todd was considered the favorite entering spring camp, but missed a significant portion of practice while still recovering from a shoulder injury he suffered while playing for Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College.

Burns made a late push during spring practice and finished with impressive performances in both Auburn's spring game and the team's final scrimmage.

Both quarterbacks played in the first two games, but neither played well against Louisiana-Monroe in the alternating-series rotation. Todd started against Southern Mississippi and played very well, throwing for 248 yards.

Todd's performance prompted Tuberville and offensive coordinator Tony Franklin to name him the starter.

"I'm glad that we've got two quarterbacks, but I'm also glad that we've got one guy that everyone can look at as the guy that's going to play well for us and lead this team," Tuberville said.

Tigers getting healthy

Last week, Auburn had to wonder if it would have any players left by the end of September.

Now, the Tigers are near full-strength as they prepare for Mississippi State.

Tuberville said receiver James Swinton is healthy and will play this week.

Another receiver, Montez Billings, made his return to the lineup on Saturday. Tailback Tristan Davis also played after missing the season-opener.

The only players who won't be available this week are offensive lineman Kyle Coulahan (recovering from pneumonia) and fullback John Douglas (knee).

McKenzie still wants to play TE

Three weeks after Gabe McKenzie moved from tight end to defensive end, he said he has adjusted well to defense.

McKenzie admitted Auburn's schemes are significantly more complicated than the ones to which he adhered during high school - especially the gap assignments.

"I can say I'm almost there," McKenzie said. "On film, Mike (Goggans) does stuff like a half-step faster than me. I've just got to get a little bit quicker and then I'll be OK."

McKenzie said he has no regrets about moving to defense, but he wants to have a chance to play offense as well.

"I want to play a little more tight end," McKenzie said. "I'll put that out there. They told me they'd put me there when they need me over there."

All in the hands

Zach Clayton has made the most of his limited playing time through Auburn's first two games this season.

The Opelika native earned his first sack of the season on Saturday and he has two other tackles for losses. All three of Clayton's tackles have been for loss this year, meaning he's doing exactly what he's supposed to - helping the Tigers control the line of scrimmage even when the reserves are in the game.

Clayton said his handwork is the biggest reasons he's seeing immediate results.

"I think I'm using my hands a lot better," Clayton said. "I was really bad about using my forearms and not using my hands real well. I think it's come a long way, but it still has to improve a good bit."

BY LUKE BRIETZKE

When Auburn defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads was asked about Josh Bynes' seemingly increased role, he sought to put an end to the discussion.

In each of this season's first two games, Bynes has played significantly more than a backup middle linebacker normally does. In fact, Bynes played more than starting middle linebacker Tray Blackmon (LaGrange) in both games.

"I think people are trying to make something out of that, and there's really nothing there," Rhoads said. "Tray's playing well. Josh is playing well. I don't think I've backed off the fact that we like to play a lot of people. People deserve to play, and if they're not hurting our football team, we're going to play them.

"There's nothing there, other than as the rotation goes and a lead exists, Josh might be playing a couple more snaps over two games than Tray has. But there's no reflection there on either one's play. They're both playing good."

While Bynes might not have surpassed Blackmon on the depth chart, he certainly has taken on a larger role than he had last year.

Bynes said the extra playing time has surprised him as well.

Blackmon doesn't seem affected by Bynes getting more playing time, either.

"I think he deserves the right to play," Blackmon said. "Through camp and through the summer, he worked very hard. He knows the plays, and the coaches give us a chance to roll in, give each other a break."

Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville offered a slightly different take than Rhoads' explanation.

"Our pass drops (Saturday) were pretty good," Tuberville said. "Tray, that was one thing that was concerning and even Merrill."

In each of the first two games, Auburn faced teams that passed more than ran.

Blackmon is known as a run-stuffing linebacker with good blitz skills, but he isn't known as a great coverage player. Through the first two games, Bynes has spelled Blackmon especially in passing situations.

Tuberville seemed to reiterate that stance during his weekly Tuesday afternoon press conference.

"Games like this coming up, where people are more two-back teams, I think Tray's a lot more effective because he's a true middle linebacker, inside guy," Tuberville said.

Auburn will play Saturday at Mississippi State. The Bulldogs operate a run-oriented offense with two backs most of the time, which is the kind of formation in which Blackmon thrives, as he did against Arkansas last year.

Blackmon was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in that Arkansas game.

Bynes and Blackmon have played well through the first two games. Bynes has seven tackles, two more than Blackmon, but Blackmon has a sack and a quarterback hurry to his credit as well.

In Rhoads' scheme, the middle linebacker is in charge of setting the defense. It's something which Blackmon prides himself. It's also an area where Bynes still is trying to improve.

Rhoads noted a play during Saturday's game against Southern Mississippi where Bynes had positioned the defensive front incorrectly. Before the play, though, Bynes reset everyone.

"That's the kind of command that that position's got to have, and he understands that," Rhoads said.

Rhoads classifies Bynes as a strong tackler and a physical player with improving pass-coverage skills.

More importantly, Bynes has given the Auburn coaches enough confidence in him to replace Blackmon for a few series. That's something both players said would help throughout the year.

Still, when Bynes gets in the game, he doesn't worry about trying to play like Blackmon.

"We can't play the same -- we can't act the same -- so, of course, we've got to come out differently," Bynes said. "That's how I see it."

By LUKE BRIETZKE

Walt McFadden saw a Southern Mississippi play develop before it even began during the first quarter Saturday afternoon.

USM receiver Gerald Baptiste caught a screen pass 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage, where McFadden delivered a crushing hit.

The play didn't force a turnover. It didn't affect the game's outcome. It was, however, a microcosm of the job the Auburn defensive backs have done so far in 2008.

"We're just working hard and studying the film and knowing the formations," McFadden said. "By them doing a lot of screens, we're not scared to come up and hit or anything."

Auburn defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads said the cornerbacks' dedication in the film room has helped them snuff out screens and short passes on the field.

That, Rhoads said, makes McFadden's play much more enjoyable.

"It was a big part of our preparation, so that's what makes you feel good," Rhoads said. "We did a number of things in that game that the kids were prepared for, they worked at, they understood, and then they went out there and executed."

With spread offenses becoming more in vogue, there's a greater emphasis on cornerbacks with good tackling ability as well as coverage skills.

"The ability to play them off and press them up and do all that just adds to the weaponry that you have and what the offense has to adjust to," Rhoads said.

Auburn has played more loose coverage this year than it did last season under former defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, who left for the same position at Texas.

That means the cornerbacks have to be sure tacklers.

So far, they have been. Through two games, 25 of 53 completions have gone for 5 yards or fewer because the defensive backs are making tackles in the open field.

"I don't think it's too big of a challenge," said Jerraud Powers, who was named Auburn's Defensive Player of the Week after leading the team with eight tackles and also making an interception. "If they run a screen, I'm going to cover ground before he gets the ball and can go up field. So that's not a big deal, playing a couple yards off the receiver, because, as long as I do my part, I've got 10 more guys running toward the guy."

Powers leads the team this season with 14 tackles, including nine solo tackles.

McFadden said looser coverage and more zone defense enables the cornerbacks to play more aggressively.

"When we were in man (coverage), they wouldn't do anything but run us down the field, and then we don't know what's going on," McFadden said. "The crowd's going wild, and we don't know what just happened. Now we can see everything in our vision. It's a better thing for us."

It's also allowing more players to get to the football.

Still, cornerbacks such as McFadden and Powers don't mind handling tackling duties by themselves either.

"That's our whole identity," McFadden said. "Our identity is smart, physical tacklers."

BY LUKE BRIETZKE
Resolution to Auburn's formerly restless quarterback competition was difficult news for newly-named backup Kodi Burns.

Chris Todd emerged as the Tigers' starting quarterback after he completed 21-of-31 passes for 248 yards during No. 9 Auburn's 27-13 win over Southern Mississippi.

Todd's 248 passing yards were the most an Auburn quarterback had thrown for since Nov. 4, 2006.

Conversely, Burns missed on all three passes and had an interception. He did rush for a touchdown, but it capped off a drive that Todd led to the USM 1-yard line.

Following the game, Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville named Todd the starter.

"Things happen, and I've just got to make the most of it," Burns said. "I'm going to stay positive, and I'm going to be happy about it, be happy that I'm still here for my team.

"Chris is a good quarterback, and (offensive coordinator Tony) Franklin made the decision that he needed to make and what he thought was best for the team. I'm just going to stay positive, and when my time comes, when my name gets called, hopefully people will get to see what I can really do."

In essence, that is Burns' reduced role. He now is the quarterback pinch-hitter, biding time and hoping for another opportunity.

It's a role Todd understands. In 2006, Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell beat him out for the starting position. Ultimately, Todd transferred to Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College before coming to Auburn in the spring.

"I went through the same process that he's going through," Todd said. "It's tough. You've just got to kind of keep going with it. I'm going to try to help him do that. He's got a lot to offer."

The decision to name Todd the starter ended a short-lived two-quarterback system.

Franklin seemed relieved to have a clear-cut starter named after he planned to use both quarterbacks throughout the season.

"It's been a really difficult thing for me because I thought I could do it," Franklin said. "I proved I couldn't. I think history probably has proven it, too, time and time again. You need to pick somebody and play him."

Franklin still plans to use Burns, but he doesn't know exactly in what capacity.

Burns started Auburn's season-opener, but he and Todd struggled with the every-other-series rotation. Burns finished with the better numbers of the two, but neither looked prepared to lead a top-10 team's offense.

Franklin said last week that he planned to stick with whomever got the hot hand. Tuberville announced Todd would start, and the junior college transfer came out hot.

He led two would-be scoring drives that ended because of running back fumbles. Then he led two more touchdown drives to give Auburn a 14-0 halftime lead.

Franklin inserted Burns into the lineup on the Tigers' first drive of the second half, but neither he nor Todd looked in sync when they started rotating again.

"I think I got a fair shot," said Burns, who was on the field for only six plays on Saturday. "They're not going to play favorites. They're going to put who they feel like's supposed to be on the field."

Burns met with Tuberville Sunday afternoon before the team practiced.

Tuberville said Burns could be used in goal-line situations but stressed that Burns is capable of more and has improved a great deal in the passing game.

"When you're competitive and want to play -- and it's not anything complaining," Tuberville said. "It's, 'What do I need to do to get better. Where am I at in your eyes? I hear what the coach is telling me, what do you think? What do I need to do?' Kodi's a competitor, and he's going to be there whether he's playing or not playing."

More importantly, Burns will be waiting for his opportunity and trying to crack the starting lineup.

Just like a pinch-hitter.

"He can put me in here and there or whatever he wants to do," Burns said. "Whenever he calls my name. All I can do is be ready when that time comes."

By LUKE BRIETZKE

On an injury front, the season didn't start well for Auburn.

Two plays into its season-opener against Louisiana-Monroe, receivers Philip Pierre-Louis and James Swinton were injured and lost for the game. Another outside receiver, Montez Billings, missed the game with a hamstring injury.

Those three injuries left Rod Smith, Chris Slaughter and Quindarius Carr as Auburn's only outside receivers. Making matters worse, Carr played sparingly for the Tigers.

Auburn offensive coordinator Tony Franklin said the injuries contributed to a sub-par passing day, but it still comes down to his players needing to make plays.

"(Pierre-Louis) made more plays than anybody we have all summer long," Franklin said. "Swinton had been our most consistent guy. That's not an excuse. Everybody's got to come in and step up and do a good job."

By the end of the game, Auburn was so thin on outside receiver depth that Smith and Slaughter played virtually every play throughout the contest.

In response, the Tigers moved three receivers -- Mario Fannin, Darvin Adams and Tim Hawthorne -- to different positions.

Franklin and Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville made the moves thinking Swinton (knee) and Billings (hamstring) would miss Saturday's contest against Southern Mississippi. However, Tuberville said on Thursday that both receivers would play. Pierre-Louis, conversely, is out for the season.

The trio can still be expected to see most of their time on the outside since that's where all three players practiced this week.

Fannin and Hawthorne embraced the move and are both excited about more playing time.

"It's just more opportunity for catches and touches," Hawthorne said. "I'm looking forward to it. If they need me to go out there and play outside, I'll do it. It's been a pretty easy transition."

Adams, a true freshman, was not made available for comment this week.

Fannin, who has played tailback and slot receiver, is now working on his third position in 10 months.

Last week, the Tigers implemented Fannin in the run game from the slot, sending him in motion and giving him two handoffs. Fannin gained 21 yards on the two carries.

Especially on the outside, Fannin needs to be more of a receiving threat this week.

All Auburn receivers, in fact, are feeling some pressure to improve on last week's dismal performance in the passing game.

"We all made some mistakes," Fannin said. "We all missed some assignments. Basically, we've got to get out there this week, against a better team. That's something we're harping on now: Getting out there, playing with speed, and executing the plays well. If we do that, we shouldn't have a problem."

While Swinton and Billings are expected to play, the moves could still prove vital if there are more injuries since three players now know both the inside and outside positions.

Hawthorne said outside receiver is even easier than playing in the slot.

"Inside, you've got to worry about eluding a lot more people," Hawthorne said. "There's a lot more traffic in there with linebackers, nickelbacks and safeties, things like that. Outside, you really don't have to worry about anything but the cornerbacks. That's why you see a lot of balls going toward the outside."

That's also why Hawthorne had no reservations about making the move -- even if it doesn't result in more immediate playing time.

Burns improving

Auburn quarterback Kodi Burns practiced for the third consecutive day, but Tuberville is still hesitant to say he'll play Saturday when the Tigers host Southern Mississippi.

Burns, who started the season-opener, is recovering from a laceration on his shin.

"It's going to be a game-time decision whether he's going to (play) or not," Tuberville said. "He's got to get better. He's not 100 percent. He did practice, went through everything, jogged, running plays. He didn't have the burst like he normally has."

Several players said Tuesday that Burns looked good in his first day back at practice, but Tuberville said Burns must be effective as a runner to play this week.

Tuberville was pleased that Burns has not had any swelling around the gash.

Burns sustained the gash midway through the third quarter after he gained 16 yards on a scramble.

"It was just a flesh wound," Tuberville said. "You can imagine, seven or eight inch cut. Then you go out in that weather, sticky and pushing off of it every down. If we played today, he'd be very limited."

Chris Todd will start at quarterback, but if Burns plays, the two will split time again this week.

Michael Goggans made a splash on his first play as a starter for Auburn's defense, returning a fumble for a touchdown during Saturday's win against Louisiana-Monroe.

A year ago, however, some of Goggans' teammates weren't sure he could make the switch from tight end to defensive end.

Goggans moved to defensive end after playing tight end for Auburn's scout team as a true freshman. That spring, he moved to the defensive side of the ball.

"When he first got over there, he was slow," said defensive end Antonio Coleman. "I thought it might not work. Mike Goggans has come a long way. I credit him for all that hard work and all the things I taught him and all the things he wanted to learn."

Coleman forced the fumble that Goggans scooped for a touchdown on ULM's first offensive play of the game.

Coleman wasn't the only player who had his doubts about Goggans.

Defensive tackle Sen'Derrick Marks started in front of Goggans last season, when Marks played strong-side defensive end.

"I've seen him come a long way," Marks said. "We were rooming together and going to different things together, and I saw how he was handling things last year. He's handling things much differently this year, so I think he grew up a lot. He's got way more maturity than he had last year."

Even during the spring, however, some thought Goggans simply was a placeholder for junior college transfer Raven Gray.

Instead, Goggans had a breakout spring while Gray missed the entire spring practice.

By preseason camp, Goggans had established a significant lead over Gray, who never was healthy enough to challenge Goggans' starting status.

Goggans displayed his development Saturday night and was named Auburn's Defensive Player of the Week.

Auburn defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads said Sunday that despite registering only two tackles, Goggans had an impressive night. He and Coleman finished as the Tigers' two most productive defenders in the season-opener.

For Goggans, this season has been about earning his spot as a starter.

"It felt a little different," he said. "I know I have to go out there and execute about 100 percent. I can't go out there and have mental busts, mental errors. I'm the starter, so I've got to live up to expectations."

Goggans said he is upset that he, and not Coleman, is getting most of the attention.

Regardless, the opening touchdown launched Goggans into the spotlight.

"It was real exciting," Goggans said. "I just wanted to go out there in my start and do something real big. You can't ask for much more than getting a touchdown on your first play. It just felt real good. It's like, 'Keep up the good work.' "

That's what Goggans has done for the past year.

Tez Doolittle thought his football playing days were behind him after he tore his Achilles heel during preseason camp last year.

When Doolittle, an Opelika High standout, took the field Saturday night for Auburn's season-opener against ULM, the senior defensive tackle had a hard time fighting off his emotions.

"I was this far from crying," Doolittle said. "It felt like I had a frog in my throat. I was just anxious to get out there and I got out there in the first quarter. Is this really happening? I was just so excited."

During the fourth quarter of Saturday night's game, Doolittle made a key play in protecting Auburn's shutout. On fourth-and-inches in Auburn territory, ULM attempted a run up the middle. Doolittle penetrated into the backfield. He and linebacker Josh Bynes dropped Frank Goodin for a 4-yard loss, forcing a turnover on downs.

That Doolittle is even playing this year is incredible. The injury -- a complete tear of Doolittle's Achilles heel -- forced him to miss all of what was supposed to be his final season at Auburn.

The injury was also supposed to end his career.

"They told me at the time I did it," said Doolittle, who has already earned a degree in criminal justice and is now working on a second degree in exercise science. "I came back from the MRI. They did a little test on your leg to see if the Achilles' is attached. When they did that, mine didn't move. They told me: 'It's over for you.' "

Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said watching Doolittle return Saturday was one of the things that makes coaching fun.

"The young man didn't have a lot of fun in the last 12 months, having to do all that rehab," Tuberville said. "He had fun (Saturday). He attacked the line of scrimmage.

"He's obviously been a surprise being able to come back that quickly from that type of injury.

"Four weeks ago, I'd have never thought he'd play in this game at the start of two-a-days. His leg wasn't strong enough, he couldn't push off well, and we were a little bit afraid of putting him in harm's way."

Doolittle was largely an afterthought throughout spring practice until Auburn's pro day. That day Doolittle told reporters that he and the university had requested a sixth year of eligibility since Doolittle had been unable to play in 2007.

The NCAA granted the request and, suddenly, the Tigers had some much-needed depth along the defensive line.

"I've been really excited with his progress," Auburn defensive line coach Don Dunn said. "That injury, from what I understand, is anywhere from 12 to 14 months. For a defensive lineman pushing off and having to use all your weight on that part of your body, I'm pretty amazed with the young man. He's done well."

Doolittle said he's still not back to full strength. If he sits for a while, it stiffens and Doolittle has to limp.

Still, he's back on the field and has already made an impact for the Tigers this season.

Considering where Doolittle was a year ago, that's quite an accomplishment.

Opening statement…
“It’s good that we’re getting in a routine now and we’re ready to play another game. It’s been fun watching practice for the last couple of days. Of course, it’s always fun when everybody is disappointed in winning 34-0, but we’re not, as coaches or players, the least bit disappointed in how we played in a couple of areas.
We’ll win plenty of games if we keep improving and understanding what we’re trying to do. I think the big thing in anything that you’re trying to do is trying to get better and understand where you’re going.

About the offense
“Everybody looks at this offense and thinks that we are going to throw for 500 yards each game. And we look up going into the fourth quarter and I think we had about 30 yards. The great thing about that is how right under it, we had rushed for about 300 yards. That’s what is going to win games for you in the long run. Looking at our offense and the reaction of our players, they’re disappointed that we didn’t put more yards up, but as I told them, the biggest thing is execution and fulfilling a purpose. Don’t turn the ball over and give your defense a chance to survive, especially early in the season.

“It all starts with the approach you take. We took a very different approach last week and we were going to alternate quarterbacks and do those things. Obviously you can’t do that and get any kind of rhythm.
In the future, we are going to find a quarterback and someone who is going to get the job done on a long leash. Of course, we will have someone standing by who can go in and play some plays. We haven’t come up with that person yet.

“This week, Chris Todd will start and we’ll have the same game plan as last week. The thing that we want to do is coach better and get us in the right frame of mind in terms of what we want to do; try to be a little more balanced and if we can do that, then we’ll be successful.

About the defense
“We’re off to an excellent start. Anytime you’ve got a shutout, you’ve done a pretty good job. They missed a few field goals and they did move the ball on us a couple of times. We’re a little bit disappointed that we missed some tackles and we were lined up wrong, but our guys attacked the ball well. We played a lot of players.
The second half, we played basically the second team defense and I thought that they competed well.

“It was a good game for us. Louisiana Monroe will win some games this year. They’ve got some good players and a defensive unit that runs well. I thought it was a good game for us to start out with. When you open up the game on defense and cause a sack, a fumble, and a touchdown, it gives you a shot in the arm. But we’ve got to put it all together in a group. This is not an individual sport, a defensive team or an offensive team, or a kicking team. We need to get everybody together and
I told them that going into this game. We’ve got to play better as a team and we’ve got to start understanding more about what each group is trying to get done. It was a good first game and we hope to perform better this week and we’ll need to.

“Southern Miss is coming in off of a very big win for their coach, first game as the head coach. They’re excited and they scored 51 points. It looked like a track meet. They’re a little similar to us; they run a fast-paced, no huddle offense. They take the ball from underneath the center more than we do. They’ve got two good running backs, one rushes for more than 200 yards. You’ve got to give that a lot of respect. They’ve got a red-shirt freshman quarterback who threw some very good passes in his first college football game and they’ll have some of the better receivers that we’ll see this year. Some very good receivers at tight end, wide receivers who will be hard to cover and they’re very physical. It’s going to be a challenge.

“Their defense is impressive. They’ve got a four-man front. They look like us speed-wise. Southern Miss has always played well against
SEC teams. This is going to be a good challenge for us. It’s an 11:30 start so it’s going to be pretty humid, and it’s going to be one of those where we’ll have a lot of people prepared to play. We’re looking forward to it.

“I will say something about special teams. That’s probably the best overall effort that we’ve had over the past few years and we had a lot of young guys making plays. We will need to improve a little bit more.
Clinton Durst will be our starter (at punter) with Ryan Shoemaker still working very hard and the competition there will make them both better.
I’m disappointed that Wes Byrum missed a short field goal. We let Morgan Hull do most of the kicking and I thought that he did a great job on kickoffs.”

Talk about what we’re doing offensively and how Auburn’s defensewill play against Southern Miss’ offense?
“We’ve gone against ourselves now for spring practice and thirty fall practices, and it’s pretty difficult to mentally get prepared for the next play. You have to get back and get set and you don’t have time to rest. Mentally you get gassed as much as you do physically. We ran 79 plays on Saturday and that’s a lot of plays and I know we got tired on offense. It’s not just your defense that gets tired, it the guys running all the plays that get tired and we’re expecting a lot of guys to play this week, offensively and defensively. An 11:30 game is brutal and hopefully the hurricane will turn and go the other way and we don’t have a wet day, but there could be possibilities there so we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Was it a good practice today?
“Yes, good practice. It was a quick turnaround because yesterday we practiced till about six and we don’t usually practice on Monday because of Labor Day, but we gave them Sunday off. They were a little tired this morning and we got their attention fairly quick. The breeze was blowing very well from the hurricane and so we’re very lucky for that because it was awfully humid. We got their attention, though, because the guys want to get better. They understand how much better they’ve got to get to going into these next couple of games, so there’s a sense of urgency with everybody on downs. We’ve got to get ready to go and play the downs.”

Talk about some of the changes that we’ll see at receiver?
“The first couple of plays of the season threw us into a tailspin, but we don’t make any excuses on offense. We didn’t get it done throwing the ball we got it done running the ball. We’re going to go in this week and move some guys around to where they can play. Mario
Fannin will be at a set position. We’ve got to get more consistency from guys in set positions instead of moving them around. I think that’s going to be a key for us going into this week. When you get into the game, you’ve got to execute. When you throw the ball, it’s not just throwing, but you’ve got to catch it and we’ve been working very hard on that as we always do in crucial situations.

Has Tony Franklin come up with any ideas of how he’ll rotate the quarterbacks?
“Chris Todd will be our starter this week and he may play the whole game. We’re not going to alternate them every series and if we think we need somebody else to go in and give us a shot in the arm, then that’s what we’re going to do. We’ve still got two quarterbacks and until we get into the conference, we’ll keep it like that. Kodi
Burns started last week and Chris Todd will start this week and we’ll look for the right combination. But you’ve got to have a guy who you know can go out there and be your starter and I’ve said that all along, someone who the players can look up to. There’s going to be a battle all year long and hopefully they’ll stay close because it’ll make them and the team better.”

Is Chris Todd starting this week because of his performance last week?
“We were going to give Kodi (Burns) the start last week and Chris (Todd) the start this week going in because they’ve both done pretty well. There wasn’t a lot of separation between them during two-a-days.
You give one of them the chance to think that they’ll be the starter and have them figure out what they’re going to do, but then you’ve got Chris on the other side thinking that he’s going to be the starter.”

What do you watch when Chris Todd is on the field?
“Both the quarterbacks are running the offense and they’re going to be a little different, but you’ve got to have a sense of urgency in this offense. If there’s one thing that we did last week, we held the ball too long. You’ve got to get rid of the ball. I think that comes from knowing that you’ve got to take your reps and you’ve got to do it precisely and not make mistakes. Quarterbacks have to have the freedom like any other player; if they go out there and make a mistake, they get back in the huddle and get a chance to redeem themselves. We don’t want quarterbacks always looking over their shoulders because that’s the worst thing you can do. Two non-conference games gives you an opportunity to let them go out and compete and see how much more they can improve, but when we get into the long run, we’re going to have a guy who will be out there with some relief help.”

On running the ball out of the shotgun…
“We went back and looked at the running game the last couple of years and our best running game have come out of one-back; whether it’s underneath the center or in shotgun. So, really the best thing that we do with our offensive line is that we’re very athletic. We run laterally, which is zone-blocking. We have not ever been a power team where everybody blocks down and one guy kicks out. We do have a few power plays and we run them and we ran them last week. We have been a more finesse running team; creating running lanes with zone blocking, handing off and let the running back use his ability in the running lane. That’s what we did Saturday and after going back and evaluating what we’ve done in our running game for the past four or five years, that’s been our bread and butter. Last week was fun to watch. We looked like a heck of a running team. That was about as good as we run the ball and against a team that really had an idea of what we were doing. Louisiana-Monroe slanted, blitzed, and stunted and we were still able to make a lot of plays.”

On studying LSU’s defense vs. Troy’s spread offense…
“I’d rather someone have played against an offense like we run before we play them. We will have some kind of idea to see what their first thoughts were; did it work, did it not work. It just gives you an idea. If we’re going to play a team in the future that doesn’t play anything we run, it doesn’t give you a lot to work on.”

On Tez Doolittle’s first game back…
“You know what I liked about Tez, is that he had fun. The young man hasn’t had a lot of fun in the past 12 months. He had fun and attacked the line of scrimmage. He hasn’t been a surprise in terms of using his hands well; however, he has been a surprise in the fact that he has come back so quickly with that type of an injury. Four weeks ago, I’d never thought he would have played in the first game at the start of two-a-days. His leg wasn’t strong enough to push off and we were a little afraid of putting him in harms way. He worked hard and got better and he is one of our leaders. It’s great to see guys turn a positive in a negative as he has.”

On reassuring Coach Franklin…
“We had a full stadium that came out to look at our offense and everyone was expecting us to throw for 500 yards and run for 75. It didn’t work like that. There are going to be games that we are going to have to struggle on offense. If you play against a defense no matter what level, the team still has to execute. Tony has been in this long enough, he knows that there were some good plays called in terms of the passing game that we didn’t execute and then there were some bad plays called that had no chance of execution. We all have got to back and look over it numerous times and make adjustments to the play called. He knows that running the football in major college football is very important.

“We knew that we could have run in the first half, we just wanted to throw the football to see how these guys react. We went into the second half telling the running backs and offensive line, it’s your turn. They just took the game over in terms of running it. There will be a lot of adjustments with the game plan. It is going to be fun to watch. This offense is going to get better. Each week we play, the defense is also going to get better. It may not look like we’re improving a lot, but we are going to improve. These guys on offense want to make it work.
They’re having fun and they’re working hard, so it’s going to pay off in the long run.”

t took just one play for Robert Dunn to start his escape from Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville's doghouse.

That play, a 66-yard punt return for a touchdown, apparently helped a great deal.

It was Auburn's first punt return touchdown since 1996.

On Sunday, Tuberville wasn't quite committed to letting Dunn out of "the doghouse."

"Dunn is... we'll take it day by day," Tuberville said. "He's got a big pen out there. We'll let him roam around in that pen out there."

Dunn was dropped from Auburn's starting "H," or slot receiver, to the fourth-string on the depth chart because he violated a team rule.

Still, Dunn returned punts for the Tigers and he was back in the lineup for the second quarter's first play.

Terrell Zachery started in Dunn's place, but Dunn said Monday that he had reclaimed the starting position.

Tuberville made it a point during his Tuesday press conference to address Dunn's drop from first on the depth chart to fourth, specifying that he wasn't suspended, but in "the doghouse."

Dunn said he simply needed to make adjustments.

"I just heard it and corrected the problem," Dunn said. "I'm not trying to go back and forth with any of the coaches. If they feel like it's a problem with something I'm doing then I'm not going to argue with them."

With Auburn's string of injuries to outside receivers, seemingly some players would have to move from the slot to the outside.

Philip Pierre-Louis injured his knee and will undergo season-ending surgery this week. James Swinton (hyperextended knee) and Montez Billings (hamstring) didn't practice on Monday and both are considered questionable.

Both Dunn and Zachery said they practiced Monday as inside receivers still. The leading candidates to move outside are Mario Fannin, Darvin Adams and Tim Hawthorne.

"They are moving guys around, just trying to get two-deep at each position," Tuberville said. "They looked at some things, and they're going to discuss it more tonight to see if they want to move anybody permanently to one spot."

Injury update

Quarterback Kodi Burns was one of several Auburn players who missed Monday's practice. Burns lacerated his leg and required several stitches to close the gash.

Tuberville said there's no swelling, but Burns is "real, real, real sore," and added, "he's a ways away."

Tuberville listed Burns as questionable on Monday, just more than a day after Tuberville said he expected Burns to play. The Auburn coach didn't know whether or not Burns would practice on Tuesday.

Swinton (knee), Billings (hamstring), defensive end A.J. Greene (hamstring) and fullback John Douglas (knee) all missed practice on Monday as well. Linebacker Merrill Johnson (hamstring) and tailback Tristan Davis (ankle) both practiced on Monday. Tuberville said he expects both to play.

Earning points

Auburn defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads said he was especially happy with the defensive touchdown on the first play of Auburn's win over ULM on Saturday because it exhibited to drills Rhoads has led.

First, defensive end Antonio Coleman got his chance for a sack of ULM quarterback Kinsmon Lancaster, but ensured it would be more than just a loss of yardage when he jarred the ball loose.

Rhoads said the team had watched practice film of the Tigers offense when a defensive end had a shot at the quarterback's blindside.

"We watched this as an entire defense and said, 'This cannot be just a sack. This is the kind of play that has to be a turnover,'" Rhoads said. "That's exactly what AC was presented with on that first play. And it's textbook. He makes the sack, he's hooking one arm to secure the tackle and at the same time he punches the ball out. It's not just an impact fumble. He works to strip that ball."

Next, defensive end Michael Goggans made a flawless recovery on his way to the end zone. Every day in practice, Auburn runs a drill where the defensive players have to scoop a fumble and then try to earn extra yards.

"That play was a series of drills that you can see on the field," Rhoads said. "That play to me is what we've been working on becoming as a defense."

Smith impresses in debut

True freshman tailback Eric Smith made the most of his collegiate debut Saturday night, rushing for 66 yards on nine carries.

Monday afternoon, Tubervile raved about Smith.

"He runs hard," Tuberville said. "He sees the field. He's one of those guys that always has his eyes working. He can make you miss in the open field, even though he's probably the biggest guy we've got. The first guy never brought him down, and that's a good sign for a freshman.

"He's got a lot of potential. He keeps his feet moving. He loves to play. He'll get his indoctrination the next few weeks."

Smith said running was a little easier than he expected, but added that he realized it was not against an SEC opponent.

Auburn running backs coach Eddie Gran gave Smith the nickname "Little Rudi" after former Auburn tailback Rudi Johnson. Smith lived up to the hype Saturday, invoking memories of Johnson during his limited role Saturday.

"I feel like that's a very good compliment," Smith said. "Coach Gran called me little Rudi the first scrimmage that we had. I had a pretty good scrimmage. I seemed to run through a couple of people and he was calling me little Rudi. I was very glad to be compared to somebody on that level already."

With a game under his belt, Smith is now fine-tuning other aspects of his game, such as pass protection.

Busy day for coaches


Monday marked the first day that coaches can contact high school juniors.

Tuberville said he and the coaches were already hard at work by the time he spoke with reporters Monday evening.

Auburn currently has 22 verbal commitments for the 2009 recruiting class. That means the coaching staff can focus more attention on the next class.

"It makes it easier," Tuberville said. "We can go out and see more guys and watch certain players that we know we want. We'll try to go out and watch all the commitments play sooner or later. Right now, we're focusing on offensive linemen, defensive linemen. We're in pretty good shape most other places."