Daily photo by Gary Cosby Jr. Seven Auburn defenders take down Mississippi State running back Anthony Dixon in the Bulldogs’ upset win in Auburn on Saturday.

Burns impressive in Auburn debut

AUBURN — As true freshman quarterback Kodi Burns dropped back to pass, his heels nearly touched the goal line — just a tackle away from a safety.

A Mississippi State linebacker ripped through the middle of Auburn’s offensive line, and Burns got rid of the pass just in time: a nice little floater into the awaiting arms of running back Mario Fannin for a 16-yard gain.

Burns followed that with a 36-yard bomb placed softly into Rod Smith’s hands.

Wow. He can throw, too?

Exit Brandon Cox.

Enter Burns, Auburn’s former No. 3 quarterback, who illustrated Saturday why he was so highly recruited out of an Arkansas high school last year.

Burns ran for 87 yards on 22 carries. He scored a touchdown on a sneak in the second quarter that put Auburn up 14-13.

Although the Tigers’ end result was a 19-14 loss to Mississippi State, it was a day that will be remembered for the emergence of a future superstar.

Burns, no doubt, brought a different dimension to a struggling Auburn offense. Most of the time, Burns lined up in the shotgun and ran the speed option to perfection, keeping the ball and racing down field or pitching it to running backs Mario Fannin or Ben Tate.

“It’s actually the first time I’ve ran (the speed option),” said Burns, who resembled a veteran option quarterback Saturday.

Burns said in high school, he threw the ball “pretty much every down.”

“Sometimes my pitches were a little bit off,” he said, “but the running backs made good plays.”

Cox was yanked after his second interception on the second series of the game, and Burns became Auburn’s beloved golden child. He ran out onto the field with the student section chanting his name. After his touchdown, they chanted it again. And then, when the team exited the field at halftime, “Kodi, Kodi, Kodi” filled the air at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

“It’s definitely encouraging,” said Burns, who noted that he knows about 75 percent of the offense. “But when they booed Brandon, I was kind of down because that’s the leader of the team, and I don’t like that.”

Although Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville told reporters this week that he did not expect Burns to play, Burns saw it coming. “I kind of expected a lot to play from the coaches, from what they said,” he said.

If Burns hadn’t played, it would’ve stoked the fires again that he will be redshirted. But when Cox lofted that pass into triple coverage, saving Burns for a redshirt season became a thing of the past.

“We weren’t really 100 percent on whether we were going to play him,” Tuberville said afterward. “We worked him a lot this week. We just needed a change of pace.”

Burns, who said he was working with the starters and backups this past week, certainly brought that. He brought an excitement to the Auburn offense that hasn’t been seen in these parts since the 2004 combination of Jason Campbell, Ronnie Brown and Carnell Williams.

Burns said he earned the respect of not only his coaches this week during practice, but teammates. “They had me on scout team, and I think I did pretty good and a lot of guys saw what I could do and I kind of earned a little respect from my teammates,” he said.

Burns sure showed his speed, but also illustrated his strong, accurate arm, completing 8 of 12 passes for 65 yards. His interception was the only poor pass of the night.

Tuberville side-stepped when asked about the future of the quarterback situation.

“We will have to look at film and try to see where we are,” he said.

Where you are is 1-2 with four difficult road games left on the schedule. You are looking, at best, at going 7-5 if you can win the rest of your home games and steal a road win.

Keep that pep in the offense and keep Burns, the future of Auburn, out there.