Kansas State coach Bill Snyder alleged that Auburn was stealing signals in the first half of the Tigers' 20-14 road win Thursday night, although Auburn coach Gus Malzahn denied it after the game.
Snyder made the comments at halftime to ESPN sideline reporter Samantha Ponder, saying that "we've got to do a better job disguising them."
Asked about the accusation after the game, Malzahn only said, "No, no."
Auburn led 10-7 at the half, and outscored K-State 10-7 in the second half, too, so it's not as though there was any indication of foul play evident on the scoreboard. But it's also not the first time Auburn has been accused of signal stealing by an opposing head coach. After Florida State beat Auburn for the BCS National Championship Game last year, FSU coach Jimbo Fisher made the accusation.
Like Snyder, however, Fisher put the blame on the Seminoles and characterized signal stealing more like gamesmanship than something unethical.
"They had a couple of our signals a couple times and were getting to them," Fisher said. "That happens, people do it, and that's our fault. You've got to change them, constantly rotate them, being able to get them in different ways. That's part of the game. I don't have a problem with that."
The Tigers resume SEC play in two weeks against LSU. But as long as LSU coach Les Miles is in control, we're guessing his signals will be safely unintelligible.
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