Quarterback controversy?
Not if Gus Malzahn has anything to say about it.
“I want to make this clear, Nick Marshall is our starting quarterback,” Auburn’s coach said after Saturday’s shellacking of Western Carolina. “When Nick is 100 percent, he will be back.”
Ah, but that’s the million-dollar question: When will Nick Marshall — Auburn’s starter the first five games of the season — be 100 percent?
Tomorrow? Tuesday? In time for Saturday’s game at No. 9 Texas A&M?
“We’re hoping so,” Malzahn said after the game. “We’ll see where he’s at tomorrow and Tuesday in practice.”
Marshall looked OK during pregame warm-ups Saturday, where if he had to play, he might have been able to tough it out despite the injury to his right knee.
“I don’t know,” Malzahn said when asked about that scenario. “We would have had to make that decision as we went.”
In a 59-point win Saturday, they didn’t have to. It wasn’t even close.
Jeremy Johnson made sure of that in his first collegiate start, going 17-of-21 for 201 yards and four touchdowns. He was 4-for-4 for 46 yards and a touchdown to start the game and finished his first three possessions 5-for-6 for 92 yards and two scores.
Not. Too. Shabby.
Right? But was it good enough to burn his redshirt?
For Malzahn, it was. Listening to the coach, it sure seems like he had a plan for Johnson to play this season anyway. Even before Marshall’s injury.
“We’ve been thinking about playing him for a couple of weeks,” Malzahn said.
For fans, though, the jury’s still out.
Regardless, you’ve got to understand the logic of starting Johnson instead of sophomore backup Jonathan Wallace when it was apparent Marshall wasn’t healthy enough to play.
If Marshall went down and couldn’t return in the middle of a close game, then you might see Wallace come off the bench first. You wouldn’t want to throw Johnson into the fire that way for his first action. Wallace has proved he can manage a team and already has the experience of four starts. Before Saturday’s game, he was your best bet midgame. But if you’ve got a week to prepare a quarterback, then Johnson’s the guy. Obviously. His ceiling is so high. He has the tools and the talent to be a major SEC signal-caller … with time.
And with a week to get ready, especially for a homecoming game against an FCS team — a game in which he looked more like a veteran than a rookie — his confidence is now through the roof.
Granted, it most likely won’t be that way next week against No. 9 Texas A&M — if Johnson even plays. And let’s not forget, Western Carolina isn’t A&M. It’s not even Washington State or Arkansas State. But it was a perfect opponent for Johnson to cut his teeth against.
But back to the original question: How healthy is Marshall?
What if Marshall is good to go next week against the Aggies? What then? Was it still a good move to burn Johnson’s redshirt against Western Carolina?
Two thoughts:
First, if a player can help you win a game now, you play him now. Football’s about the present. A coach has to think about this year, not next year, or the year after.
If playing Johnson is what Malzahn thinks will help the team win, then that’s what he’s going to do. Can’t blame him.
Second, Johnson didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he seemed pretty excited about getting on the field.
“If I was redshirted or not, I was still going to be happy,” Johnson said. “I was still going to improve at practice. I was still going to be pulling for the team.”
Playing Johnson wasn’t unfair to the player. If anything, it was the best thing. It got him ready for what lies ahead … this season and the rest of his career. And if that creates a “quarterback controversy,” so be it.
But, again, that’s not how Malzahn or the rest of the team look at it.
“No, not at all,” Malzahn said. “I think we proved today that we have two very capable quarterbacks, and I think that will do nothing but help us moving forward.”
And that’s the point.
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