Auburn’s passing game must improve in a hurry

By Lee Roberts  |   Thursday, September 04, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

Auburn Tigers
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Eighty-five.

That's how many passing yards Auburn's new spread offense amassed in the Tigers' season-opening win over Louisiana-Monroe last weekend. Although the Tigers emerged with a 34-0 victory, it's highly doubtful 85 is the amount of aerial yards head coach Tommy Tuberville envisioned when he brought in offensive coordinator Tony Franklin and his system in the offseason.

There are probably several excuses that coaches, players and fans could come up with for such a meager output. For instance: It was the first game for the new quarterbacks. The game was a blowout; thus, Auburn didn’t need to throw the ball. The running game was so good that it didn’t leave many opportunities to take shots down the field. Switching quarterbacks almost every series didn’t allow either to get into a rhythm.

All those things might be true, but the reality of Auburn’s passing game was eloquently stated by Franklin after the game: “We stink.”

He’s absolutely correct. Auburn’s passing game was atrocious. You have to believe that the Tigers wanted to use the matchup against the Warhawks to work out some of the kinks in the passing game before facing stiffer challenges in the coming weeks. Unfortunately, the aerial 'O' was such a mess that they can’t even find the kinks.

Fortunately for Auburn, the running game, defense and special teams showed up. Of course, under Tuberville, those facets of the game always seem to be there. Auburn rushed for 321 yards, held ULM to only 218 yards of offense and scored touchdowns on a fumble and punt return. It was classic Auburn football. The problem is that this is supposed to be a new era of Auburn football, one that includes a high-octane passing machine.

Defense and special teams will never cease to be important in any football game, and if you can rush for over 300 yards every week, you’re going to win most weeks. Running the ball out of the spread can be very effective, but Franklin is supposedly a passing game wizard. He needs to spend a lot of time trying to find the magic formula, because when LSU comes to town in a couple weeks, you can guarantee Auburn won't rush for 300 yards that game.

This weekend’s matchup with Southern Miss will be Auburn’s last warm-up before taking on SEC competition. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Southern Miss is going to stack the box and try to make Auburn win with its QBs' arms. With Kodi Burns suffering an injury against ULM, Chris Todd will get the start and presumably the bulk of the snaps. Auburn had better hope that Todd is able to find that missing rhythm and get comfortable in a hurry, or it might be an ugly Saturday on The Plains.
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About Lee Roberts

Born in Richmond, Va, I moved south to UNC-Chapel Hill for college and received a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. I currently live in Charlotte, NC and cover Auburn, LSU and the ACC.
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