Auburn Tigers: QB Battle Will Continue in Fall Camp


John Reed, USA TODAY SPORTS

After completing spring practice, the Auburn Tigers still don’t have a quarterback. Or, they have two, depending on how you look at the situation.

Head coach Gus Malzahn released the Tigers’ post-spring depth chart on Wednesday. At the quarterback position, both Kiehl Frazier and Jonathan Wallace were listed as the starting signal caller.

“Sometimes, that’s a negative,” Malzahn said. “Sometimes, it’s a positive because you feel like you have two guys who can do it.”

The Auburn fan base was hoping that one of the potential starters would step up during the spring game. In fact, 83,401 fans turned out for the Tigers’ first spring contest under Malzahn.

What those fans and the coaches saw from their quarterbacks was encouraging, but did not clearly put one player in front of the other. Frazier was 10-of-16 passing for 125 yards, while Wallace was 18-of-26 through the air for 191 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception.

Those numbers were improvements from last year, when the two quarterbacks combined to complete about 55 percent of their passes for six touchdowns and 15 (yes, 15) interceptions. In Malzahn’s system, the quarterback simply cannot turn the ball over that much and be successful.

Another intriguing item about this competition is that three newcomers will join the Auburn roster this fall, and each of them will be given a legitimate chance to win the job.

Junior college transfer Nick Marshall will join the QB race, along with freshmen Jeremy Johnson and Jason Smith. While these three players will be at a disadvantage heading into fall camp, Malzahn is serious about giving each of them a chance to win the job.

Since neither Frazier nor Wallace took control of the position in the spring, it figures to be a competitive fall behind center for the Tigers.

 

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