03/30 at 12:24 AM

Chris Todd and Kodi Burns entered Saturday’s A-Day game tied atop Auburn’s quarterback depth chart.

Judging from their performances Saturday, not much has changed.

Todd and Burns both had their moments, as the Blue team — featuring AU’s first-team offense — routed the White team, 30-14. Both quarterbacks threw touchdown passes.

“They were both good and they were both bad,” offensive coordinator Tony Franklin said. “The things that I liked were that they moved the team. They got the ball in the end zone a few times — not as many as I would like.

“They made mistakes.”

The quarterbacks had plenty of opportunities, thanks to head coach Tommy Tuberville’s decision to mostly sideline AU’s run game.

Senior tailback Brad Lester touched the ball just once, on a pass reception. Junior Ben Tate scored two touchdowns on just five carries. And senior Tristan Davis finished with 17 yards on five carries.

Aside from a stable of walk-ons — who combined for 150 yards on 28 carries — the day belonged to the quarterbacks.

“We’re going to throw the ball quite a bit next year,” said Tuberville. “We didn’t play our running backs much; we’re trying to get them healthy.

“We wanted to put pressure on the quarterbacks.”

Burns and Todd both came through, accounting for two Blue team touchdowns each. Neither threw an interception.

Burns, who was named the Lionel James Offensive MVP, finished 14-for-21 passing for 142 yards. Todd recovered from a rough start, finishing 18 of 27 passing for 190 yards.

The mobile Burns also had 3 yards rushing on eight carries, but Tuberville said the sophomore’s numbers didn’t tell the whole story.

All four of AU’s quarterbacks wore orange no-contact jerseys Saturday. Several times, a defender lightly touched Burns in the open field, ending what could have been a long run.

“Kodi would have eaten us up running the ball down the field,” Tuberville said. “It was a little bit deceiving.”

Burns was pleased with his performance.

“I feel like I did pretty good,” he said. “I can always improve, but I feel like I led my team down and got a few touchdowns and drove the ball up and down the field. Overall, I think I did pretty good.”

Todd, who was 1-for-4 for 19 yards in the first quarter, played through shoulder pain for a solid finish.

“I came out pretty slow, but finished out pretty strong,” he said. “There were some throws that I wanted to make, but I knew I didn’t have a lot going with the arm today.

“I had to kind of hold back a little bit. It was an OK day. It finished out pretty good.”

Todd said he overworked his arm in pregame warmups and didn’t feel comfortable until after a halftime break. Arm problems have troubled the junior throughout spring practice; Franklin estimated he was only 60 percent healthy Saturday.

Both quarterbacks looked more comfortable as the game continued. Defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads said the pace of Franklin’s no-huddle offense wore down AU’s defenders.

“The biggest impression I was left with today is we have to get in better football shape,” Rhoads said.

The Blue team led, 30-0, in the third quarter before White rallied with 14 consecutive points. Sophomore Neil Caudle threw an 8-yard third-quarter touchdown to Chris Slaughter.

Caudle also accounted for the White team’s second touchdown. Playing quarterback for Blue in the fourth quarter, Caudle threw an interception to Josh Bynes, who returned it 48 yards for a score.

A-Day was the 14th of 15 Auburn spring practices. The Tigers will wrap up the spring with a half-scrimmage Wednesday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

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