Tommy Tuberville led his Auburn Tigers into a familiar place Saturday afternoon to face the worst team in the SEC. That familiar place was home for the Tigers, and they seem to let Arkansas come in and bully them around in their own place quite frequently.

Saturday was a disaster for Auburn and their hopes for the season. As a matter of fact, all of last week was a disaster for Auburn and their season’s hopes.

Tuberville has slim options. His job security was questioned in the post game media conference Saturday night, and his response sounded shakier than the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

I’m pretty sure he wasn’t bluffing either.

It appears that “The Riverboat Gambler” is pretty low on chips after the Tony Franklin bet.

When gamblers are down, sometimes they keep betting in hopes of a turnaround. Other times, smart betters will go for something they know can win.

A sure bet.

Like Chevy Chase on Vegas Vacation, he’s got one more twenty in his pocket and it’s past time to get the dice rolling again or he may be forced to move on.

So what is a sure bet for Tuberville?

I can think of two very quickly.

The first is it’s a sure bet the spread offense the Tigers are running now will get them nothing more than a post-season trip to Shreveport, Louisiana at best for the Independence Bowl.

The second is maybe he should ditch the spread all together.

What would it hurt at this point?

Tuberville brought in Tony Franklin last December, and the Tigers managed to install a pretty successful form of the spread to use against Clemson.

Franklin installed the simple form of the offense in roughly two weeks.

Tuberville and the Tigers are in day three now of a ten day break between the Arkansas disaster and their next game at West Virginia.

How about un-installing the spread and re-installing the sure bet that is the run first, I-formation offense that Auburn has lived and died by since long before Tuberville?

Just a thought.

Clemson Tigers head coach Tommy Bowden stepped down Monday, and Tuberville needs to hit a sure bet so he doesn’t become the next Tommy that’s shown the door by a Tigers athletic department this season.

Sportswriter Ben Stanfield can be reached at 670-6316.