Yee-haw.

Grotus' Acorn has simply nothing more to say about the Arkansas game. I'm completely spent.

Dr. Schadenfreude, or, how I learned to stop worrying about burning redshirts

Again - Chris Todd is an Auburn tiger, and will remain so as long as he straps on pads and wears the blue jersey. And even with that... remarkable performance on Saturday, he's probably done more for the team than I ever will.

Regardless, it's good to see that - my dad put it so well - we are no longer practicing affirmative action for white quarterbacks:

"We wouldn't be talking about these other things if we thought Chris could get it done," Tuberville said, before quickly attempting to soften his statement. "I'm not down on Chris. He's got to understand — if you play like that, as anyone at any position, you've got to work your way back in." Mobile Register

"We wouldn't be talking about these other things if we thought Chris could get it done. That doesn't mean he can't. I just think Chris' arm, if you look at it, isn't 100 percent." Jay G.

We here at Grotus' Acorn won't be pressing the issue that Chris Todd's arm is not entirely the problem. We are satisfied and encouraged with Tubby's affirmation that one must earn the starting quarterback job at Auburn University.

...Er, unless you're a redshirt freshman spread quarterback.

The idea of playing redshirt freshman Barrett Trotter has been bandied about too often for my comfort. Maybe it's just the bitterness left over from the 2007 Burnsshirting bubbling up again, thick as tar, but I have a knee-jerk, visceral reaction anytime Tubby wants to open up the QB competition to freshmen resting peacefully under their redshirt cabbage leaves. Let 'em lie, Tuberville!

I wish we could just pick a dog and run with him. I think that man is Burns, because his running ability improves the core's play and his passing, in my opinion, is less of a detriment than many seem to think. Yes, it's true that on his best throw of the night, he didn't even lead the receiver. But when he threw that long post deep into razorback territory, he muscled it in and hewed out a coarse but gigantic chunk of yardage. No one else has shown that level of raw athletic ability, and it is the sort of talent that only improves with mental maturity. Right now, Kodi makes too many bad decisions, but he's learning. You could see it on the field - he goes through progressions, makes better choices about when and how he runs the ball. The only way that he continues - emphasis on continues - to improve is to play him consistently. IE, the only way to become a seasoned field general is to get seasoned.

And what I mean by "seasoned" is not "sprinkled with some sort of magical fairy-spice that turns a raw talented recruit into a composed experienced quarterback." I mean seasoned like firewood is seasoned, either being exposed to the dry air for some long period or exposed to high heat until all the water is driven out. This green wood we've got just ain't gonna burn.

It just seems like Tubby thinks we can just plug one of these spread guys into this shambles of an offense and he'll turn everything to Christmas and puppy dogs. It just isn't going to happen* - a quarterback has to learn how to handle the game by playing the game, which is to say, being more than bail-out-the-white-boy one season and Tweedledee in a mutant quarterback dichotomy the next. So let him play the game. You owe him some time, Tubby, because it's your poor decisions that have left Kodi Burns struggling to establish a rhythm. Suck it up and take your licks - and God willing we stand a chance against the Tide.

And in the name of sweet Moses, don't Burnsshirt Barrett Trotter.




*That is, it's not going to happen for Auburn, even though Vandy and LSU did it to us.