Kansas State said it had to change signals at halftime against Auburn

Kansas State felt Auburn had figured out its offensive signals.

KSU coach Bill Snyder told ESPN's Samantha Ponder at halftime of the Wildcats' loss to Auburn Thursday night that "They're getting our signals" and that the Wildcats changed some at halftime.

After the game, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn denied Snyder's claim that the Tigers knew KSU's signals.

It's not the first time that this accusation has been leveled against Auburn. You may remember that during the BCS Championship Game, Florida State put towels over its offensive signal-givers after the Seminoles felt Auburn had its signals.

Auburn assistant coach Dameyune Craig was a former assistant for Florida State, and the Noles felt that Craig had their signals. In the first half of the BCS Championship, Auburn jumped out to a 21-3 lead before losing 34-31.

Thursday night, Kansas State's loss was due to an inability to get out of its own way. The Wildcats missed three field goals and dropped a surefire TD in the end zone that turned into an interception in a 20-14 loss.

While there wasn't a similar situation of a coach with dual familiarity here, is stealing football signs fair game? While stealing signs in baseball is against one of baseball's ridiculous and sacred unwritten rules, there is a clear reason that signals given out in the open are disguised.

And it's why you see a lot of the ridiculous sign boards with pictures of famous people and products on the sidelines of teams that signal in plays from coaches and players on the field. A lot of times, those pictures mean nothing. But coaches watching game film can pick up what the real signals are via game film.

What do you think? Is signal-investigating an acceptable practice? And what do you want to bet that Auburn's opponents the rest of the season will be changing signs before and not during games?

- - - - - - -

Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

Follow @NickBromberg

From Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo Sports - Kansas State said it had to change signals at halftime against Auburn