Auburn football has shown explosive potential under Alex Golesh, but slow starts remain a major concern. Kodi Burns believes Byrum Brown and the Tigers have enough playmakers to win, but better perimeter blocking and earlier offensive rhythm will be critical against Tennessee.
The Auburn Tigers offense has shown flashes through four games.
The problem has been getting to those flashes quickly enough.
And I thought Kodi Burns gave a pretty good example of what this offense is supposed to look like when everything starts working.
Looking back at Auburn's touchdown drive against Vanderbilt, the Tigers converted a third down with Chas Nimrod over the middle.
Omar Mabson followed that with a big run. Then Auburn immediately took its shot.
Nimrod got a one-on-one matchup outside, Byrum Brown found him and Auburn had a touchdown. The tempo and rhythm of the offense were in full effect.
"You really see what happens when we pick up that first first down, how explosive this offense can really be," Burns said.
That's what Auburn has been missing early in games, and why this offense continues to get criticized when overall it's doing quite well.
Alex Golesh has already talked extensively about the slow starts.
Burns acknowledged them again this week.
"Obviously you've seen the slow starts," Burns said. "We got to continue to improve on that front."
But Auburn's problem isn't necessarily a lack of playmakers.
Burns believes the Tigers have enough.
"When we're clicking on all cylinders, you see guys have the ability to go make plays," Burns said. "We got plenty enough to go win a ton of games."
Now Auburn has to get those guys going earlier.
And that doesn't simply mean throwing them the football.
Burns has another expectation for his receivers.
Block.
"I'm looking for perfection," Burns said. "I don't care how many balls you catch throughout the course of a game. There are several plays that you have to be able to dominate your man on the perimeter."
Keshaun Singleton gave Auburn a pretty good example against Vanderbilt.
On Jeremiah Cobb's game-clinching run, Singleton worked back and sealed the linebacker to give Cobb the edge.
But Burns also admitted Auburn hasn't consistently done that well enough.
"We're a little bit inconsistent blocking right now," Burns said. "We got to continue to get better."
That connects directly to what Golesh said Monday.
Auburn has to improve blocking in space offensively and tackling in space defensively.
Those aren't complicated fixes, but they're pretty important ones.
Especially this week with the talent you are facing on the road for the first time this season, and during the Golesh era.
Tennessee has speed defensively, and Golesh has already talked about how difficult it is to consistently run the football against SEC defenses.
Auburn's receivers can't simply be receivers. They have to create space without the football too. Something that has definitely been a major issue so far this season early.
The biggest challenge now is making sure it doesn't take several drives to get there.
