Write On Sports LLC - "Tigers expect to open up offense against USC" by Frank Sita

Tigers expect to open up offense against USC

2006-09-26 10:04:38 | By: Frank Sita

For the first four games of the season, the Auburn Tigers have won with a solid defense, and extraordinary kicking game and just enough rushing offense to keep opposing teams honest.

But with the likes of South Carolina, Arkansas and Florida next in line for the Tigers, Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville knows his offense will have to put up more passing numbers to stay ahead of the pack.

Against Buffalo last week, the Tigers attempted only 14 passes. Junior quarterback Brandon Cox has thrown 75 passes on the season for a SEC-low 684 yards, averaging 170 yards per game. The Tigers have run the football 65 percent of the time. After four games, Auburn is fifth in total offense, third in scoring offense and seventh in passing.

“We’ve got a stretch with three very good conference games, and that’s going to force us to throw the ball more,” Tuberville said. “But we can do that. We’ve got a good quarterback, and our offensive line is much improved.

“What we’ve done has been pretty vanilla. We haven’t done much offensively. We’ve been pretty basic up to this point. We’ve got good receivers. We just haven’t had to use them.”

“As we get into this game and the games down the line, we’re going to be forced to get the ball down the field more. Looking at what South Carolina does and how they play, they’re kind of like us. They take the run away first and defend the pass, so we’ve got to be more balanced.”

South Carolina (3-1 overall and 1-1 in the SEC) coach Steve Spurrier said Auburn isn’t at all like his team. In fact, the Gamecocks are on the opposite end of the spectrum, averaging 225 yards passing to only 120 yards per game rushing.

Spurrier remembers what happened last year in Auburn, a 48-7 Tiger bashing.

“We certainly got clobbered over there last year,” Spurrier said. “Our defense struggled over there. Our offense struggled, and the coaches, we struggled. We were all pretty bad at Auburn last year. But that one’s history.”

“We’ll be underdogs, there’s no question about that,” Spurrier added. “Maybe we can find some ball plays in here, somewhere or another, that can fool them. Who knows?

“We’ve got (quarterback) Syvelle Newton going and he’s played two games in a row. I think he had really improved from the first game. He gives us a chance. Obviously, if we can’t block a lick or we can block these guys at all, it’s going to be a tough night.”

Newton has completed 26-of-39 passes for 466 yards with six touchdowns in two games against Wofford (a 27-20 win) and Florida Atlantic (a 45-6 win). The senior completed five touchdown passes against Florida Atlantic to receiver Sidney Rice, who has 21 receptions for 356 yards.

“He’s a guy (Rice) that can win ball games for them,” Tuberville added. “He’s very dangerous, and covering him will be a challenge

“They have gotten better defensively. This time last year they were in disarray. They were standing up and running around (on defense). Tyrone (Nix) is a good coach. They have a plan. They are more fundamentally sound than they were last year.”

While Tuberville has beaten Spurrier, defensive coordinator Will Muschamp has come up on the short end of his brief encounters with the dreaded “Darth Visor.”

“I have great respect for him and what he has accomplished as a football coach and as an offensive coach,” Muschamp said. “He does an outstanding job of teaching the quarterback. I see him implementing his system at South Carolina right now. That's always a work in progress, but they are a team that can light up the scoreboard. I've been there before.”