Auburn's Field, Burns battling for backup spot
The Auburn Tigers might have a bit of a quarterback controversy brewing — for the backup spot.
Blake Field's rise over freshman Kodi Burns on the depth chart was one of the few potentially significant happenings in No. 18 Auburn's 35-3 win over Tennessee Tech on Saturday.
Offensive coordinator Al Borges had indicated after the game that Kodi Burns was still his No. 2 quarterback behind Brandon Cox. He was overruled.
"Coach Borges and I have had a discussion today," coach Tommy Tuberville said on Sunday.
The new plan? "We'll go with probably Blake Field this week in terms of being our backup," Tuberville said.
Barring injury to Cox, that's a fairly minor concern for the Tigers (7-3, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) entering their final two games at No. 10 Georgia and against No. 21 Alabama. However, Kodi Burns has played in nine games mostly coming in occasionally to run the ball out of the shotgun and could still be used in that role.
Field, meanwhile, had been relegated to third-team status and special teams duty. He wound up going 6-for-11 for 92 yards and a touchdown against Tennessee Tech while Kodi Burns was 0-for-4 and ran three times for 11 yards.
"He seized the moment," Cox said of Field. "It came and he went out and did what he had to do."
Field said he went about a month without getting any practice snaps at quarterback, and didn't take any last week.
Kodi Burns admitted after the Tennessee Tech game to suffering from some jitters after spending all week expecting significant playing time against a mismatched opponent.
"He threw some terrible passes," Tuberville said. "He never set his feet, just trying to guide the ball.
"He throws the ball much better than that. He throws it much better in practice, but that happens. He's a young guy who we threw into the fire early. It will probably help him a little bit going into the spring next year. He's going to be a good player. He's just not used to the limelight yet."
Kodi Burns, Field and Neil Caudle — who also played in the game — are expected to vie for the starting job during spring practice. Field has been in on punt and kick return coverage.
"Straight up and down, I'm a quarterback," he said. "A lot of people get that stereotype that quarterbacks are little pretty boys. I guess I kind of went against that."
The Tigers rested the starters for most of the game and sat out tailback Brad Lester to rest a sore quadriceps muscle. He said Sunday he was fine and could have played against Tennessee Tech.
The starting offense had three touchdown drives on the first three series before the subs came in.
Safety Aairon Savage had missed the last four games with a knee injury, but started in place of Zac Etheridge, who is nursing a sore shoulder. Linebacker Merrill Johnson also played significant snaps after being limited much of the season with a shoulder injury.
"They looked very active and made plays and should help this week," Tuberville said.
He also said left tackle Ryan Pugh should return for the Georgia game from an ankle injury. Tailback/kick returner Tristan Davis (foot) and linebacker Craig Stevens (ankle) are questionable, the coach said.
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