Not Franklin's Fault: The Real Reason Auburn's Offense is Struggling

Looks like it wasn't Tony Franklin's fault after all.  Auburn lost a game yesterday to Arkansas 25-20, after yet another low offensive output.

The Tiger offense could only manage one touchdown, a one yard run by QB Kodi Burns.

Speaking of quarterbacks, Auburn used two signal callers yesterday, Burns, and Chris Todd, who combined for 10-for-28 passing for 137 yards and three interceptions. Those numbers aren't good no matter what kind of offense, or who is calling the plays.

Seven Tiger receivers caught passes in the game, but none of them had more than two catches. It could be said that the attack was balanced, but there just wasn't much to go around.

The ground game has been the Tiger's strong suit in the past, but they aren't exactly breaking records there either. Ben Tate was the team's leading rusher with 32 yards on eight carries.

So what's really wrong with the offense? They struggled last season, so they brought in a new coordinator, with a new system and the struggles continued.  They fired the coordinator, and handed the play calling duties to someone else, and still couldn't manage to get things going.

The offense works. When Franklin was at Troy University, they put up big numbers against a handful of SEC teams. And when he was at Kentucky, they did that every week.

What has happened since then? Has the rest of college football caught up with the system? Since just last year? That's doubtful. Has Franklin faded as a coach? Again in less than one year, that's not the problem either. If Franklin was indeed the problem, it would have been cured against Arkansas, right? That didn't happen.

Maybe it's the offensive assistants? Most of them have been at Auburn as long as Tuberville, and hadn't previously coached the spread system. Maybe if Franklin had been allowed to bring some of the assistants that had been with him previously, and had experience installing the system, things would have been different.

At the end of the day, it all boils down to numbers. 10-for-28 137 yards three interceptions.  Those numbers say that Auburn just does not have the type of football players it takes to run this system.

In recent years, the numbers say that Auburn doesn't have the type of football players to run any system with much success. And that goes back to the head coach. Maybe he should have fired the recruiting coordinator, instead of the play caller.

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