Burns waiting for his chance to 'make a play'

Kodi Burns felt a lot of Auburn fans’ pain Saturday night.

The backup quarterback watched from the sideline as the Tigers struggled on offense, scratching out a 3-2 win against Mississippi State.

“I’m pretty sure it was frustrating for a lot of people, including myself,” the sophomore said.

But unlike the fans, Burns’ frustration had more to with the fact he was ready to play, but never got the chance to help his team out.

“You just have to sit back and wait your turn,” he said. “Hopefully, you get a chance to go out there and make a play. Of course, I wasn’t able to make a play or (have a) chance, but we’ll see about this week.”

This week, Auburn hosts rival LSU at Jordan-Hare Stadium at 6:45 p.m. on ESPN (Channel 28 in Lee County). The offensive struggles the Tigers have seen in the first three games will be put under a much larger microscope when the Bengal Tigers come to the Plains
as the defending national champions and ranked No. 6 in the nation.

Will Burns have a chance this weekend if needed?

That’s the million-dollar question.

Burns said he’s preparing as if he’ll get the shot. Just like he did last week.

“I had no idea,” Burns said when asked if he thought he was going to play last week vs. MSU. “It was just based off what the coaches want to do. I practiced almost like I’ve always practiced but they just didn’t put me in.”

And this week?

“It’s not changed,” Burns said. “I’m just working hard every day in practice and we’ll see what’s going to happen. If they put me in,
they put me in. If they don’t, they don’t. I just have to stay ready and keep preparing as a backup.”

Head coach Tommy Tuberville has said Burns will eventually get his shot in Tony Franklin’s spread offense. And when he does, Tuberville said, he’ll excel.

But that chance isn’t something the coach can predict.

“We’re only three games into the season,” Tuberville said. “... We didn’t want to get into a situation where we were alternating every time. (Starter) Chris (Todd) played pretty good and made some plays in the Southern Miss game, and that’s not saying that if Kodi would’ve been in the game, that he wouldn’t have done the same thing. But you’ve got to go with your gut feeling on who is going to
play and who is going to be the starter.

“It could change. It could change soon, it just depends. We’ve got to score more points, and it starts with the entire offense. But the quarterback is a big part of it. They get a lot of publicity. I have total confidence in Chris. I’ve seen what he can do in practice. But
Kodi can, too.”

But what about short yardage? What about around the goal line, where Burns, the more athletic of the two quarterbacks, has produced in the past?

“We could put Kodi in on short-yardage situations. But I got involved in this: I don’t want Kodi just to learn part of the offense,”
Tuberville said. “I want him to learn it all. When he goes in, I want him to be able to throw the ball (and) run it.

“If you go out there and say, ‘OK, Kodi, we’re going to make this small package for you and we’re going to let you run that’ he’ll never get any better. You’ll never find out what kind of quarterback he really is.”

Burns hopes to get the chance to show everyone, at the goal line or in the middle of the field.

“I have to be comfortable with whatever they do with me,” Burns said. “Like I said, they are the coaches and they know what is the best fit for the team.

“If they put me in, in the red zone, I just have to go out there and make the best of it. It’s up to the coaches and that’s their decision.

“As a team player and the guy I am, I can’t be worried about when they’re going to put me in. It’s just the fact if they put me in, I have to be ready.”

mszvetitz@oanow.com | 737-2513