SEC PREVIEW Auburn searching for right QB, balance

By Heath Allen

Posted: July 30, 2009 at 6:40 a.m.

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AUBURN, Ala. — Editor's note: This is the fourth in a series of stories previewing SEC teams Arkansas will play in 2009.

Scribes will have no shortage of material in the 19th meeting between Auburn and Arkansas.

Two of college football's top offensive minds will collide Oct. 10 when Tiger offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, a former Razorback offensive coordinator, and Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino match wits at Razorback Stadium.

Auburn traded one familiar face for another when Arkansas native Tommy Tuberville left as head coach and new head coach Gene Chizik lifted former Arkansas offensive coordinator Malzahn from Tulsa, where he guided one of college football's top offenses for two years.

Chizik, who was just 5-19 in two years at Iowa State before taking the Auburn job, returns seven starters on offense and eight on defense from a team that went 5-7 in 2008 under Tuberville.

Chizik coordinated Auburn's defense in its undefeated 2004 season and his unit was the nation's top scoring defense that season. Defense, though, hasn't historically been Auburn's weakness.

Malzahn will attempt to install his high-octane mix of horizontal passing and zone running, though Chizik contends his Tigers will continue to focus on the ground game.

"When Gus and I talked about coming to Auburn, I wanted to make sure, philosophically, we were on the same page," Chizik said. "Being a defensive coordinator in this league and having a great grasp in this league what wins and what doesn't, I feel very strongly in the efforts of running the football."

Chizik listed the success of Malzahn's ground game at Tulsa as a key reason why he tabbed him as his closest offensive advisor. Last season Malzahn's Golden Hurricane offense averaged 569.9 total yards per game (301.9 passing and 268 rushing) and racked up 47.2 points per game.

"If you go back and look at the record, Gus has had a great, great record of being able to be balanced and productive both running and throwing," Chizik said. "But we're on the same page. We know what we want to do. We want to create a physical brand of football, which over the years, that's what Auburn was built on."

The Golden Hurricane were tops in the Football Bowl Subdivision in total offense, ninth in passing and fifth in rushing. While Chizik doesn't expect to accumulate that much production in the grueling Southeastern Conference, he said the numbers do provide much cause for enthusiasm.

"Unless you're an option football team, that's really hard to do," Chizik said, referring to Tulsa's ground game in 2008. "... We want to run the football, but we also want to be able to have a very balanced passing attack, too... There are very few teams out there that throw it all the time or run it all the time."

Auburn doesn't return much experience under center, leaving both Chizik and Malzahn with a lot of work to do before the season opener at home against Louisiana Tech on Sept. 5. Chizik may be forced to ride senior tailback Ben Tate, who is the leading candidate for workhorse duty. He led Auburn with 664 yards rushing on 159 carries with three scores in 2008.

Former Fort Smith Northside quarterback Kodi Burns (6-2), a junior, was the Tigers' secondleading rusher last season with 411 yards on 98 carries and five rushing touchdowns. Burns was penciled in as the early front-runner at quarterback but Chizik said a single signal caller has yet to earn the quarterbacking chores entering fall camp.

Neil Caudle, a 6-3, 200-pound junior, and 6-4, 217-pound senior Chris Todd are also pushing forsnaps under center along with freshman Tyrik Rollison, a four-star recruit and Parade All-American.

"Our quarterback situation is going to be very unique," Chizik said. "... There's some older guys with experience. Some of them went through the spring. One of them didn't. Then all of a sudden, you have some young guys coming in on campus. When you haven't locked down on a position and said 'this is my starter,' that means it's up for grabs for everybody that walks through the doors."

Rollison has Auburn fans buzzing. Last season as a senior at Sulphur Springs, Texas, he threw 51 touchdowns, passed for almost 5,000 yards and rushed for 1,094 more in a spread option offense.

"We would like to get that situation resolved," Chizik said. "How long that will take, we don't know. Obviously the guys that have more experience have probably a little bit of a leg up. But that doesn't always, you know, tell the final tale."

Sports, Pages 7, 8 on 07/30/2009

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