With two weeks to go before taking on Washington State in the 2013 season opener, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn felt it was wise to go ahead and name Nick Marshall his starting quarterback.
That settled what had started as a four-man race for the job between junior Kiehl Frazier, sophomore Jonathan Wallace and newcomers Jeremy Johnson, a true freshman, and Marshall, a junior college transfer.
“Nick Marshall has emerged and earned the right to be our starting quarterback,” Malzahn said on Saturday. “As I’ve said, we wanted to go with the guy that gives us the best opportunity to win football games and Nick is that guy. He has caught on quickly in the short period of time he has been with us. He is a playmaker with a big upside, and once he becomes more comfortable with the offense, he has the chance to improve each week.”
There was no question that Auburn needed an upgrade at the quarterback position. Frazier and Wallace combined for 1,473 yards and six touchdown passes against 12 interceptions last year. Marshall, who played cornerback and special teams as a freshman at Georgia in 2011, ran into disciplinary problems and was dismissed from the team in February of 2012.
But from the very beginning of fall camp, Marshall took hold of the job and left the others in the dust. It was so obvious that Frazier, who started five games last season, asked to be transferred to the defensive side of the ball in the second week of camp —and he’s already making a name for himself at safety.
“He’s really gotten off to a good start,” Malzahn said. “He understands football and he understands offenses and what they’re trying to do with splits and everything that goes with it.”
Frazier’s roommate, tight end C.J. Uzomah, says the former quarterback has embraced the move instead of fretting over losing the quarterback job.
“I think he looks really good. He’s been a quarterback, so he knows the scheme,” Uzomah said. “They say he’s really starting to pick up the defense well and is going to a big-time threat for them. He wants to help the team. That’s really big on his part. He manned up and did that. Now we give him a hard time because he’s on the other side of the ball. I tell him I’m going to beat him, but I think he handled himself and the situation really well.”
Marshall and Johnson had moved to the head of the quarterback pecking order since the opening of camp. Marshall had the upper hand after a highly successful season playing quarterback at Garden City Junior College in Kansas where he threw for 3,142 yards and 18 touchdowns while rushing for 1,095 yards 19 more scores. A dual-threat quarterback, Marshall has found the perfect offense for his skills. Malzahn’s fast-paced philosophy is a great fit for Marshall as it was for another junior college quarterback named Cam Newton.
Auburn didn’t scrimmage on Saturday but the coaches put the quarterbacks in game-type situations.
“We did seven-on-seven. We ran our offense from the sideline and started to try to be as game-like as possible,” Malzahn said after the Saturday practice. “We wanted to see how they reacted, just with the way they handled their teammates, the way they handled calling out different things and all that. We learned a lot today. After we look at the film, I think we’ll have some better answers. We’ll come up with a plan leading up. We understand we’d like to name the starter sooner rather than later.”
That plan came to fruition a couple of hours later when the 6-foot-1, 210-pound Marshall was tapped for the starting job, a move that was welcomed by the Tigers who had been wondering since the spring just who was going to be their leader.
“I kind of knew Nick coming out of high school because we came out together and were both from Georgia,” Uzomah told Phillip Marshall of AuburnTigers.com Saturday. “Him coming here and showing how athletic he is and how fast he is and his ability to extend the play and make things happen with his legs is something you just have to watch. He’s a blazing guy. It’s something kind of special.”
H-Back Jay Prosch was not surprised that the coaches picked Marshall. The 6-foot, 258-pound senior from Mobile said Marshall has been a standout all along.
“’This summer I noticed he had a great arm and could really throw the ball and move really well at workouts,” Prosch said. “When camp started it was kind of the same stuff really. It took a while for me to figure out and see differences. It was definitely hard on Nick and Jeremy coming in and not knowing much about the offense and not having the spring. Now I can see a big difference. They have adapted and are doing very well.”
Winning the starting job on the practice field is a victory for Marshall, but now he has to start producing victories for the Tigers on the field —something Auburn fans are desperately seeking after suffering through one of the worst season’s in the school’s history.