AUBURN, Ala. — There is no quarterback controversy here.

Yes, Kodi Burns and Chris Todd are going at it every day in practice, sharing snaps and learning how to run the new offense.

No, neither has been named the starter.

The feeling is that many would be relieved if Burns, from Fort Smith, could separate himself a little more and become the No. 1 guy. But there is no real concern.

Most likely both will play in every game.

As Nolan Richardson used to say: It isn’t about starting, it is about playing time.

Of course, John Barnhill used to say if you have two quarterbacks then you don’t have one quarterback.

Yet here, on the Plains, everyone seems fairly content with the progress Burns and Todd are making and believe both will contribute.

Saying there is some cautious optimism here would be a major understatement because quarterback is one of the few spots left vacated from last year’s 9-4 team. The defense is solid with seven returning starters.

Coach Tommy Tuberville hired offensive coordinator Tony Franklin to replace Al Borgess and install the Spread offense after Auburn averaged 19 points per game in SEC play last year. Burns seemed to regress as a freshman, so much so that his high school coach, Darrell Henry, came here and watched him and told him he had changed his mechanics in a way that was not good.

The team has embraced the offensive scheme change.

“I like it,” said starting right tackle Lee Ziemba of Rogers. “The blocking schemes don’t change with the quarterback; in fact, I don’t really know who is back there.

“ I definitely think we will be much more productive on offense this season.” Actually, Burns’ presence served as a wake-up call for senior Brandon Cox last season.

Tuberville yanked the redshirt off Burns after Auburn lost to Central Florida at home, and Burns became the first true freshman to start a game at quarterback at Auburn since 1998.

Burns completed 8 of 12 passes in a losing effort to Mississippi State. He also rushed for 87 yards on 22 carries and scored a touchdown.

Cox smelled the coffee and started playing much better, and Auburn won four games in a row. It would have been five, but down in Baton Rouge, LSU scored a touchdown with one second on the clock to win 30-24.

The Tigers then won four of their last five.

Yet, they are under the radar going into this season.

Most of the national attention is focused on Georgia, the popular pick to win the SEC, Florida or LSU, the defending national champion.

That is fine with Tuberville, who has won or shared five of the past eight SEC Western Division titles.

No one expected much of the Tigers in 2004 when they went 13-0 and finished No. 2 in the nation.

That was one year after a booster had demanded the athletic director and others fly to Louisville, Ky., before the season was over and talk with Bobby Petrino, who had been the offensive coordinator here a year earlier.

Word leaked out, leading to the eventual removal of the school president and Athletic Director David Housel, who had been against considering any changes before the season was over. Housel was ordered to go to Louisville.

Being under the radar with 16 starters back doesn’t mean the Tigers will run the table, but their road games are at Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, West Virginia (a nationally televised game Thursday, Oct. 23 ) and Alabama.

That’s not a soft schedule, but getting Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas and LSU at home are good things.

Thursday, Auburn had one practice, and it was not in pads.

It was more work on fundamentals, including at the quarterback spot where the Tigers have two guys catching on to a new system and doing well.

Having a No. 1 quarterback is always good, but having a 1 A isn’t exactly bad these days.