ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

They're the words no football team or fan of that team wants to hear.

It's no time to panic.

That was Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville's message coming out of the 14-13 loss to Vanderbilt last Saturday in which the Tigers went belly-up offensively for the last three quarters.

Clearly, the spread offense that first-year offensive coordinator Tony Franklin was hired to implement at Auburn isn't cutting it with this personnel, these quarterbacks and this team.

But contrary to some of the scuttlebutt out there among fans, Tuberville isn't at odds with Franklin and insists that he's not contemplating making a change or taking the play-calling duties away from Franklin.

What has to change is the way Auburn is playing on offense, and that's the responsibility of everybody on the Tigers' staff, Tuberville said.

"We've just got to look ourselves in the eye -- all of us, not just Tony -- and find ways to score more points and win games," Tuberville said. "It's going to get better."

The Tigers have scored just five offensive touchdowns in four SEC games. They've moved away from Franklin's version of the spread and are trying to tweak it to the current personnel on this team.

The question that bugs most Auburn fans: Did nobody see these problems coming back in August or even the spring?

Chris Todd knows the offense. He's been around it since high school when Franklin was a consultant for his high school team. But it's obvious his throwing shoulder still isn't completely right. He can't make all of the throws he needs to for the spread to be effective in its purest form.

And Kodi Burns simply isn't playing with enough confidence in the passing game. When he's in the game, defenses know his first instinct any time he feels pressure is to tuck the ball and scramble.

There aren't a lot of easy answers.

The one that makes the most sense, at least at this point, is going back to the tailback-oriented, power game that was so successful for Auburn in the past and then maybe coming back to the spread next spring.

The Tigers opened with two tight ends and Ben Tate as the single back against Vanderbilt and looked like they were going to mash the Commodores. They drove it down to the 1 and were stopped on downs.

Vanderbilt loaded up the line of scrimmage from there, and Auburn was never the same offensively.

Tuberville said it's unfair to dump all of the blame on Franklin, who's been stand-up about the Tigers' struggles all season and said repeatedly that he hasn't done a good enough job coaching his system.

But Tuberville refuses to make him the scapegoat.

"I think Tony's done a good job of adjusting," Tuberville said. "I don't know whether we've done a good job of adjusting to what we've gone to. But he's our offensive coordinator. He's worked as hard as anybody here, and he's as disappointed as anybody here.

"We've got to find some answers. He knows he's the guy who needs to find those answers, and he's looking hard ... along with the other coaches."