Auburn's Burns trying to build on West Virginia game

AUBURN, Ala. -- The Auburn Tigers started out doing a little less in Kodi Burns' first wire-to-wire game. They mixed fairly safe passes with handoffs and plenty of Burns scrambles.

Now, the sophomore quarterback feels he and the Tigers are ready for a somewhat expanded playbook for Saturday's game at Mississippi.

``We definitely are building back up,'' Burns said. ``It wasn't so much just cutting a lot of things out. We just kind of stuck to the basics and ran the stuff that we're really good at.

``I think the coaches as well as the players have a sense that we can get it done. We saw that in the first half of the West Virginia game, that we can open it up a little more.''

That game last Thursday was the first time Burns was able to start a game without wondering when another quarterback would come into the game. It was also Game 1 since Auburn (4-4, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) abandoned the spread offense.

It might have been a bit of a transitional game. Burns still ran for nearly as many yards (82) as he managed passing (111) in the 34-17 loss.

``We don't have a broad range of offense in right now for Kodi,'' coach Tommy Tuberville said. ``We want him to be able to handle what we have.

``We have enough in to where we can get the ball down the field consistently, but then you have to execute that.''

But he said that depends a lot on the young quarterback being able to read the defense effectively, and on the supporting cast.

The Tigers took some of the pressure off Burns with a steady diet of running plays. The only interception he threw was on a desperation pass late in the game.

They have had a couple of extra days to prepare for Ole Miss (4-4, 2-3) because of playing the Thursday game after also having an open date before playing West Virginia.

``You obviously saw how we came out and ran the I (formation) and a lot of different things,'' Burns said. ``Over that break, it gave us a lot of things to do, different looks and things. Having 10 days to prepare for this game will also make us a lot better and do a little bit of different things.''

Burns' 21 passes against West Virginia were the most of his career, and only three shy of his total through Auburn's first six games. He didn't play in two of those.

'I think we can open up a little bit,'' Burns said. ``I think the positive thing that we did in West Virginia, I think we were somewhere around 50 percent on third downs, (and) completion rate. If we can do that, that's pretty good.''

After splitting time with Chris Todd for the first half of the season, the coaches handed over the offensive reins to Burns.

Teammates say they can see the difference in him now that he's in sole possession of the job.

``He's practicing a lot better,'' tailback Brad Lester said. ``His practice habits are getting better. He's finishing throws and running out of the pocket more at practice, and that's going to carry over into the game.''