Auburn Coach Gus Malzahn Wisely Sticks With Jeremy Johnson As His Starting QB

A week after holding off a late rally from Louisville to escape with a 31-24 victory, the Auburn Tigers needed overtime to escape FCS powerhouse Jacksonville State, 27-20. There’s been a common theme in both games that has cause the Tigers’ offense to struggle, and that’s the poor play of quarterback Jeremy Johnson. Against Louisville, Johnson only completed 11 of 21 passes for 137 yards and one touchdown while tossing three interceptions. Today against Jacksonville State, Johnson completed 21 of 32 passes for 236 yards and two touchdowns, but he tossed two more interceptions.

With five interceptions through the first two games of the season, head coach Gus Malzahn was asked after the game if he ever considered pulling Johnson for backup Sean White to which Malzahn responded: “No, no. Jeremy Johnson is our quarterback.”

I’ll admit that five interceptions in the first two games of the season against lesser opponents is a bit worrisome, but Malzahn is making the right decision for the future of his football team. Prior to this season, Johnson had only attempted 78 career passes and the majority of those were in mop up duty. The lone game where he got a real opportunity was in last season’s opener against Arkansas, where he started for the suspended Nick Marshall and completed 12 of 16 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns.

Johnson has too much talent for the Tigers to give up on him. If Auburn is going to compete for the SEC West title this season, it will have to be on Johnson leading the charge. Malzahn knows that’s the case, and that’s why he made the proper decision to stay with Johnson as his starting quarterback.

Jason Fletcher is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JasonFletcher25, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google+.