Around the Web . . .

SI.com's Stewart Mandel offers his take on Auburn's struggling offense:

It shouldn't be entirely surprising that Auburn would struggle in its transition to the spread. Most teams do. Look at Michigan. Look at Florida in Urban Meyer's first season. Missouri's spread is a machine now, but that first season Gary Pinkel made the change was pretty rough. (Chase Daniel took over the next season.) But I never imagined Auburn would struggle this bad, in large part because the Tigers did surprisingly well in the Chick-fil-A Bowl with just three weeks of practice. In hindsight, maybe I should have put more stock in the fact they were playing Clemson.

I don't buy that Franklin "doesn't understand SEC defenses." He may have come most recently from Troy, but he did spend four years at Kentucky. I do think it's been clear since the spring that he's not particularly confident in either of his quarterbacks. It's fair to assume that Kodi Burns would be a more natural fit due to his running ability. He must be light years behind in the passing game for Franklin to stick with Todd when he's been so unproductive and appears to be injured.

I know many are calling for Tommy Tuberville to simply scrap the thing and go back to the I-formation, as he did early in the Vanderbilt game. That reeks of desperation to me. He obviously implemented the scheme with long-term success in mind and there's no reason to think the Tigers can't eventually get there. In the meantime, however, if they want to avoid a disastrous '08 campaign, the coaches need to find some sort of middle-ground solution, whether it means making more use of Burns, mixing in more power running, simplifying the playbook, etc.


The Auburn Plainsman's Sports Editor Alex Scarborough-Anderson gives his two cents:

News came out of Sunday’s scheduled press conference — Tony Franklin is still the offensive coordinator.
Who would have thought two months ago that Tuberville would have to say that? Nonetheless it was news. The Plainsman isn’t the only one reporting this. Check Rivals or the O-A News.
The offense is struggling. There is little doubt about that.
Is it Franklin’s fault?
Well that’s where it gets sticky.
People want heads on pikes.
Auburn hadn’t lost to Vanderbilt in 13 consecutive tries. The Tigers came out well on offense; funny thing was, it wasn’t Franklin’s offense.
Earlier in the week, Tommy Tuberville said the Tigers weren’t running the “spread offense” but instead the “Auburn offense.”
What exactly does that mean?
Well apparently it goes something like this — do everything that has worked for Auburn over the last decade to jump out to a 13-0 lead and then stop, slam on the clutch, shift gears and go with the spread.
It’s as if Tuberville said “I’ve got the first quarter and then the rest is yours Tony.”
The first two touchdowns were a thing of beauty.
Line up and run the ball down their throat and finish them off with solid passing. It was Running Back University all over again.
It was what we know.
What we don’t know is the spread. Yet.
The spread offense doesn’t have a toe tag on it, but many are ready to call a time of death.
Fans keep hearing “give it time,” but patience isn’t a virtue many Auburn fans possess.
Dreams of an explosive offense conjured up in the off-season were soon turned into nightmares of the old “three yards and a cloud of dust” offense of old.
What’s worse for Tuberville and Franklin is how far the offense has regressed.
Take out play calling quandries and you’re left with dropped passes, penalties and missed field goals.
Even when plays are executed correctly, the offense can’t seem to point the barrel of the gun away from their foot.
The Tigers have committed 352 yards in penalties this year — that’s 106 yards more than opponents have handed Auburn.
It’s an offense with issues.
The prescription?
Your guess is as good as mine.
My antidote: a good nights rest followed by a hot pot of coffee and a serious discussion about where the offense is headed.
Maybe that and a few Prozac.


Mark Murphy of InsidetheAuburnTigers.com chronicles Tuberville's reasoning behind the Franklin firing:

http://auburn.scout.com/2/799042.html


Former Hoover High coach Rush Propst says Auburn's coaches never truly bought into the spread offense:

http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/sports/1223540122228880.xml&coll=2


ESPN.com's Pat Forde says that SEC defenses are the entire reason why so many SEC teams are struggling offensively:

SEC: Pointless
The Southern spin on low-scoring SEC football has been that it's attributable to all those fast, ferocious defensive players in the league. That's only a partial explanation, failing to fully cover the fact that more than half the conference ranks in the bottom 50 nationally in total offense.

The following are not attributable to great SEC defense:
Tennessee's 13 points against Northern Illinois. Auburn's 27 points against a Southern Mississippi team that subsequently gave up more to Marshall and UTEP, respectively. Arkansas' zero first-quarter points on the season -- including against Western Illinois and Louisiana-Monroe. Mississippi State's 14 against Louisiana Tech and seven against Georgia Tech. South Carolina's 23 points against a Wofford team giving up an average of 27 points per game to FCS competition.

Fact is, it has been a bumpy season for the following five SEC playcallers:

Things seemed so promising for Tony Franklin and the spread offense. Then the season started.Tony Franklin, Auburn. He might have been the most-hyped offensive coordinator hire of the year, but the hype has dissolved into gripes. The Tigers are 104th nationally in total offense and averaging just 18.7 ppg, which if it holds would be their lowest scoring output in 10 years. They've scored just five offensive touchdowns in four SEC games, as the no-huddle spread offense that made a cult hero of Franklin has ground to a halt. Franklin has shouldered the blame -- but his job will be in jeopardy if there isn't a second-half turnaround.

Dave Clawson, Tennessee. The Volunteers are riding a three-game streak of offensive ineptitude that has produced 31 points -- their lowest three-game total in 14 years. If their 18 ppg average doesn't improve, it would be the lowest in 34 years. Clawson was the former head coach at high-scoring Richmond, but he might be headed back to the FCS level if Tennessee continues to flail offensively. Amazing how ordinary the Vols' offense has looked over the years when not coordinated by David Cutcliffe.

Bobby Petrino, Arkansas. Brother Paul Petrino has the offensive coordinator title, but Bobby has always maintained control of the script and the play-to-play strategy. The shocking thing is the first-quarter bagel for a guy whose game-opening scripts were almost unstoppable in his high-scoring days at Louisville. Biggest problem is the No. 107 national ranking in rushing.

Team Spurrier, South Carolina. Steve Sr. said before the season that he was turning over the play-calling duties to Steve Jr. Then we saw that the Head Ball Coach would sooner trade in his visor for a bowler than trade in total control of his offense -- even to kin. So he gradually took back the play sheet in the first few weeks. Regardless of who has been dialing up the calls, South Carolina in Year 4 under Spurrier still looks more like a Lou Holtz operation than the expected offensive powerhouse.

Woody McCorvey, Mississippi State. Head coach Sylvester Croom has resolutely -- at times defiantly -- stuck by McCorvey through years of fan criticism. Now, with the league's lowest-scoring offense and no victories against FBS competition, Croom's clout with first-year athletic director Greg Byrne could be tested if Croom wants to retain McCorvey for a sixth season. State hasn't had a single 40-point game since 2002, by far the longest streak in the league.