It’s safe to say offensive coordinator Tony Franklin is not a popular man in Auburn.The Auburn Tigers are 3-0, but last week’s 3-2 win against Mississippi State didn’t exactly exude offensive prowess.
Auburn has experienced growing pains with the conversion to Franklin’s spread offense system, and the media has taken notice. ESPN analyst Chris Low gave Franklin his “Ice, Ice Cold” honor this week.”[The offense] can’t finish drives, turns the ball over and   generally looks dysfunctional,” Low writes.Keep in mind, Franklin is a man with an impressive track record.He coached former Kentucky quarterbacks Tim Couch, Dusty Bonner and Jared Lorenzen, who all led the Southeastern Conference in passing yards.
He also operates the “Tony Franklin System Seminar,” a copyrighted program used by hundreds of high schools and colleges to help implement the spread offense.
“Do you have an extra copy?” LSU coach Les Miles joked when asked if he owned the DVD.
But Auburn has struggled and ranks last in the league in red-zone conversions this season. A plethora of penalties and turnovers may skew that percentage, but it still proves alarming for many of the Auburn faithful.
“I’ve never been bad in the red zone before,” Franklin told the Auburn media. “More than likely, it’s two things. One is mistakes. Two is me. I need to do a better job of going back to my feel and my instinct versus probably more game-planning.”
Franklin, who coached two years under Larry Blakeney at Troy, said his system there began with similar woes. But time proved beneficial for Franklin and the Trojans, who ranked No. 16 nationally in 2007 in total offense.”We’re so close,” Franklin said after the Mississippi State win. “It’s scary how close we are.”Franklin may be running out of time if he expects patience from the Auburn fan base. Auburn ranks No. 11 in the SEC in pass offense.Junior quarterback Chris Todd has completed nearly 59 percent of his passes, ranking No. 10 in the SEC. Backup sophomore Kodi Burns is waiting for his chance, which may come soon if the Tigers continue to struggle.”We are 3-0, right?” Tuberville questioned Monday during a press conference. “I’ve always noticed that the backup quarterback is the most popular guy when you’re not playing good offense.”
ESPN’s Low seems skeptical of either quarterback’s ability and presents doubt as to why Auburn runs the spread scheme.”If you’re going to run a spread offense, the first rule of thumb is that you better have a quarterback who can run it,” Low writes. “Neither Chris Todd or Kodi Burns has proven that he’s that guy yet, at least not in this league.”—-
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