Auburn Offense Hungry for Production: Meat and Potatoes or Bread and Butter?

It took about five games and a ton of criticism before motivating Tommy Tuberville to inject his hard-nose philosophies back into the Auburn offense.  That’s the speculation from many close to the program.

I concede that we do not truly know what Tuberville will do.  However, it seems rational from his most recent statements to the media to assume that he has taken some control away from offensive coordinator Tony Franklin. 

After five games Tuberville conceded that Auburn does not have the personnel to do what Franklin wants offensively right now. 

This does not mean that the offense does not have talent. Truth be known, Auburn does lack skillful play in some areas, but that could be attributed to youth and lack of execution. 

One could speculate the coaches will be looking at the QB position heavily the next few recruiting classes, but how does any of this help the fledgling offense right now? 

With Tuberville publicly stating, and Franklin concurring, the head coach decided it was time to inject a change of pace during the Tennessee game last week. 

Enter Kodi Burns. 

That action plainly shows Tommy Tuberville will pull the trigger when needed.  The Auburn fans must not kid themselves—Tuberville did not insert Burns in the second half of the game because it’s the popular thing to do. Tuberville took action because he needed to show Franklin and the populous that he is in control.

“This is Auburn football, not Tony Franklin football,” Tuberville said to the media.

Tuberville also stressed that he is not at Auburn to make friends or run for political office. It is plain to understand Tuberville wants to win games, and will make decisions to do so when push comes to shove.

Tuberville is not the only one on the team taking the issues by the horns. 

The starting five on the offensive line decided to hold an "offensive lineman only" meeting. 

"We're going to play with a different swagger," said offensive tackle Lee Ziemba.  "We're going to get off the ball and we're going to block some folks. That's what we're going to do this week. That's what we're going to do this season."  

Jason Bosley continued those sentiments. 

"We've got to really set the tempo and we've kind of gotten away from that a little bit I think,” said Bosley.  "We’ve just kind of been grinding a little bit instead of going out there and really leading the offense like we should be."

That’s welcome news for running backs Ben Tate, Brad Lester (who has been nursing a knee injury), and Tristan Davis (concussion).  The backs have found a lot fewer holes to run through at the line thus far this season.

With Mario Fannin lining up at quarterback in the Tigers' "War Eagle" formation, which he did three times against Tennessee, he brings an explosive element to the offense.

Tuberville has expressed many times that Mario Fannin has too much talent not to have the football in his hands.

"Mario will give you an extra dimension in the backfield," Tuberville said. "It's new to him, especially on this level, but he understands it more than somebody who you threw out there into the mix. I think it gives you a couple of options, so we'll see how it works out." 

Will Auburn convert back to the meat and potatoes style offense that we all know? The game will dictate that. 

Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see how the offense lines up against Vanderbilt on Saturday night. 

I formation, Single back set, TE Tommy Trott in motion, with a little spread mixed in for balance?  Who knows?

Whatever style of offense Auburn coaches decide to run, it will not be the complete version of the “Franklin System.” Not the rest of this year anyway.