Franklin looking for better way to handle quarterbacks

It didn’t take long for Tony Franklin to find a single word to sum up his quarterbacks’ performance in Saturday’s season-opening win against Louisiana-Monroe.

“They were both blah,” said Franklin, Auburn’s offensive coordinator.

The duo of Kodi Burns and Chris Todd, whose neck-and-neck competition had been the main storyline of preseason practice, didn’t start 2008 on an encouraging note.

Burns was 4-for-9 passing for 15 yards before leaving in the third quarter with a cut on his leg. Todd finished 9-for-18 for 70 yards and a touchdown.

“They were average,” Franklin said. “I did a poor job of coaching them and it showed. I’ve got to do a better job this week.”

Changes are likely afoot this week. The competition isn’t over — Franklin said both Burns and Todd would play Saturday against Southern Miss. But the terms of the competition might change.

Against ULM, Burns and Todd alternated series, at least until Burns’ injury ended his day. Franklin said he was concerned that neither quarterback was able to find a rhythm in the passing game.

“That’s my fault, the way I alternated them series to series,” he said. “I’ll probably have a different way of rotating them. If one guy goes well, then he may stay in forever.”

Of course, the quarterbacks weren’t playing in a vacuum. Franklin wasn’t pleased with the performance of Auburn’s receivers, either.

The receiving corps took two major blows in the game’s first minute: Freshman wideout Philip Pierre-Louis sustained a season-ending knee injury on the opening kickoff, and senior James Swinton was knocked out of the game by a knee injury on Auburn’s first offensive play.

Pierre-Louis and Swinton joined junior Montez Billings — out with a hamstring injury — on the sidelines. That left Auburn without its starting “X” receiver — Swinton — and its top two reserves at the “Z.”

The injuries at receiver forced some players to play too many snaps. Sophomore Chris Slaughter played 61 snaps at X receiver, and starting Z receiver Rod Smith topped 50, according to head coach Tommy Tuberville.

The changes to the receiver rotation didn’t help the wideouts’ production — Franklin said none caught his eye in film study.

The quarterbacks, meanwhile, sometimes hesitated to make decisions, according to Franklin. In Franklin’s spread offense, many passes are thrown on timing routes: A receiver might be covered when the ball leaves the quarterback’s hand, but the passer must trust the receiver to run his route perfectly and break free in time to make the catch.

Unfortunately for Auburn, neither quarterback seemed comfortable trusting his receivers quite that much. Franklin said the competition contributed to that uneasiness. Both quarterbacks had to keep the depth chart in mind, and both knew that a critical mistake — like throwing an interception — could lead to lost playing time.

“It’s hard,” Franklin said. “I don’t care who you are, when you come out in your first game and you know you’re not going to be in the next (series), you’re probably concerned about the reps and stuff and making a mistake — wondering if that’s your last one.”

Of course, as long as Burns and Todd are competing for the top spot, giving each the confidence to take risks won’t be easy. Finding a way to do exactly that is Franklin’s task this week.

“I better figure it out pretty quick,” he said with a smile.

cmickle@oanow.com | 737-2561