Starting 1-2, Auburn to try two-headed quarterback

If Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville could morph the passing skills of Brandon Cox with the running talent of Kodi Burns, the Tigers would have a quarterback who could give defenses fits.

But as it stands for the 1-2 Tigers, Cox, a senior who has 20 career wins as a starter, is a sitting duck who doesn't have time to throw. He's playing behind a young line that has already allowed nine sacks, worst in the SEC along with Ole Miss.

Burns is a true freshman from Fort Smith (Ark.) Northside High. He's a brilliant athlete, with the devastating quickness to run lead options after taking shotgun snaps. But he hasn't learned to read defenses well enough yet to throw the ball with confidence.

Following last Saturday's 19-14 loss at home to Mississippi State - the first time since the end of the 2002 season and start of the '03 season that Auburn has lost two straight home games - the Tigers are ranked 100th in the nation in total offense (301.3). Also, Auburn and Minnesota are tied for the most turnovers committed (12) of the 119 Division 1-A teams.

So what will Tuberville and offensive coordinator Al Borges do for today's non-conference game against pass-happy New Mexico State, coached by former Kentucky coach Hal Mumme?

"We haven't decided yet who will be starting, but both will play," Tuberville said of Cox and Burns. "(Opposing) teams will have to make two (defensive) gameplans. Each week, every team will have to do that. It might help us as we go though the season."

Tuberville said he won't alternate quarterbacks every play.

"We're going to look for the right one that's playing and fits best in what we're doing," Tuberville said. "We're looking for something that's going to work. We add a few plays for Kodi in some of the schemes to give us an added dimension, but Kodi will pretty much be running the same scheme as Brandon."

Ground Hogs: Arkansas ran for 301 yards in its 41-38 loss to Alabama last Saturday. The Hogs ran for 350 in the opener against Troy.

Arkansas rushed for 300 or more yards only twice last season, when it averaged 228.5 yards per game to lead the SEC and rank fourth in the nation. Heisman Trophy candidate Darren McFadden ran for 195 yards on a career-high 33 carries against Alabama and probably would have cracked 200 had he not been forced to sit the final two offensive series of the game because of a slight concussion.

"It was real hard for me to sit," McFadden said. "I wanted to get back in there. It was close to the top of the most physical games I've ever played in. Everything was sore." McFadden has run for 346 yards on 'Bama the last two years.

Like Croom: Mississippi State's players love coach Sylvester Croom so much that they circled him in the locker room after last Saturday's 19-14 win at Auburn and told him the win was for him. He deflected that, saying he'd won against Auburn before as a player for Bear Bryant at Alabama from 1972-74.

"I've been in bowl games, I've been in the Super Bowl," said Croom, a former NFL assistant with the Packers. "This is old hat for me. I'm happy for them."

Ryan's Hope: Back in the middle of the summer, it looked like third-year sophomore quarterback Ryan Perrilloux might not ever play at LSU. For two years, Perrilloux had pushed Tigers' coach Les Miles' buttons by missing meetings and weightlifting sessions.

Then last winter, he was named a person of interest in a federal counterfeiting investigation. He was never named as a suspect, but then he was suspended by Miles last spring after receiving a citation from Baton Rouge police for using a fake ID at a local casino. Perrilloux apparently got his act together, and Miles reinstated him just before the start of this season. With starter Matt Flynn sidelined with an ankle injury, Perrilloux started and dazzled against Middle Tennessee on Saturday, completing 20 of 25 passes for 298 yards and three touchdowns playing just three quarters in a 44-0 blowout.

"It was a good thing I stayed and stuck it out," Perrilloux said. "Every player doubts himself sometimes, but you just have to keep pushing forward. The coaches know what they're doing."

It was the first time that Perrilloux started a game since December of 2004, when he was a Louisiana high school senior at East St. John High in a 62-42 playoff loss to Evangel in which Perrilloux also played safety.

Rallying Tide: One of the complaints about previous Alabama coach Mike Shula was his team could never come from behind in the fourth quarter to win. That never happened in his 49 games at Alabama.

It took first-year Tide coach Nick Saban just three games to get that done, after 'Bama's last-second, win over Arkansas.

"We spent all spring, all summer, all fall talking about (winning a game in) the fourth quarter, and we pulled it out," said Alabama quarterback John Parker Wilson, who threw for 327 yards and four touchdowns against the Razorbacks.

Some information from writers in other cities.