HUDDLE UP: Tigers getting back to basics

Pitchers and catchers don’t receive the same amenities as a quarterback and his bevy of assistants do when it comes to relaying information.

So, in football, having your signs stolen shouldn’t really be an issue. But it’s one of the numerous reasons coach Tommy Tuberville ditched the arm-flailing method of communication brought to the Tigers by Tony Franklin for the old-fashioned huddle technique for Saturday’s game against Georgia.

“You just take too many things for granted that if you’re signaling and people are seeing what you’re doing,” Tuberville said. “When you’re huddling, only 11 people in that huddle know what you’re going to do.”

Tuberville couldn’t pinpoint any examples of supposed sign-stealing.

“As coaches, you’re always wondering why are they slanting this way or doing that,” Tuberville said. “It’s probably not happening, but it gives you peace of mind for your players and coaches.”

Since Franklin was fired midway through the season, the Tigers have slowly worked away from his version of the spread and regressed back to the formations and common practices of Tuberville’s teams from the past. But the transition away from the no-huddle was one of the last switches to take place.

The reason for that, Tuberville said, has to do with Kodi Burns, Auburn’s speaker of the huddle.

“There’s not enough time in the day to do it in a four or five day period,” Tuberville said. “We’ve kind of gradually put more on Kodi and he’s done good, done well.”

Lester not in the ‘doghouse’
Tuberville was relatively ambiguous Sunday when discussing the lack of action senior tailback Brad Lester saw in Saturday’s game against Georgia.

Lester, a regular starter, a Georgia native and playing in his final game at Jordan-Hare Stadium, saw time only on special teams, as Mario Fannin and Ben Tate received all the work in the backfield.

Lester has struggled through injuries this season, but it wasn’t a factor in his no-show, Tuberville said.

“He’s not 100 percent, like some of the other ones,” Tuberville said, “but he just didn’t play.”

Asked if Lester was in Tuberville’s “doghouse,” often his euphemism for a suspension, the coach pointed toward Lester’s work Saturday on special teams.

“(When you’re in the) doghouse, you’re locked up,” Tuberville said.

Upset over being idle
You won’t hear many coaches peeved over an extra week of preparation, but Tuberville voiced his displeasure about this week’s bye heading into the Iron Bowl.

“It should be played this week. And I’m sure they’d love to be playing it this week going into the championship game,” Tuberville said, referencing Alabama’s appearance in the SEC Championship the following week. “We’ll rest our guys a little this week and try to get some of those guys a little more healthier that are playing. But it won’t be a lot of difference in who played this week and who’ll play next week.”

Per new SEC rules, no team is allowed to have a bye week heading into the conference championship. Tuberville said he would have liked to explore his options more after the initiative was passed.

“I guess we could have played somebody else but we weren’t given that option,” Tuberville said. “I don’t remember us being given that option, that’s for sure.”

Iron Bowl kickoff time set
CBS announced Monday that it would pick up this year’s Iron Bowl, which slates the game for 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 29.

It will mark the second time Auburn plays on CBS this season, the other being Sept. 27, when Auburn beat Tennessee, 14-12, at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The last CBS-broadcast Iron Bowl was in 2006, when Auburn beat the Crimson Tide, 22-15, in Tuscaloosa.

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