OK I admit it, I was wrong. I have no problem admitting when I’m wrong, and I’ve had lots of practice doing so, especially concerning Auburn football as of late.

I admit it. I was as giddy as a schoolgirl when I heard that Tony Franklin was coming to Auburn. His offense had had more success against Auburn’s SEC opponents last year than Auburn had, and every Auburn fan knows that we’ve been one good offense away from seriously competing for an SEC or maybe even National Championship for the past few seasons.

First, I would like to apologize to Al Borges. He became a true Auburn man during his tenure on the Plains, even finding a wife and having a son during his time here. His offense was frustrating last year and in 2006 as well.

But for all its faults, it never left me embarrassed. His offense had become bland and unimaginative, but it was still an SEC-caliber offense that made few mistakes and kept the ball for long stretches of time.

What we saw last night in Nashville was embarrassing. I give all the credit I can to Vandy. They played with grit and tenacity, especially at QB. Mackenzi Adams played a heck of a game against a stout (although injury-riddled) defense. Incidentally, this makes the second loss of the season that we’ve been beaten by the backup QB.

But I’m not blaming the defense. Anytime your defense holds an opponent to 14 points, it’s supposed to be a W, particularly on the road. And especially against Vandy.

So who do I blame? As far as I’m concerned, the Tony Franklin experiment is over. I know he doesn’t have the best players to run the Spread, but really, that’s just my point.

An offensive coordinator at this level should have the ability to make the necessary adjustments for his players while working to get the players he wants into his system. Franklin has proven incredibly reluctant (or just plain hard-headed) to do that.

What’s more, for the past three games we seemed to have figured out how to get the ball moving in the first quarter, then Franklin completely abandons what was working.

That’s my problem with ideologues, they are more interested in their ideals than doing the best thing. Franklin’s goal is not really to score points or move the ball, but to run the Tony Franklin offense, the Spread. (And apparently to use Chris Todd to do it.)

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