Malzahn Blows It Again

It was announced today that Auburn coach Gus Malzahn has named Sean White the starter for Saturday and benched Jeremy Johnson.  The lynch mob of fans that always blame everything on the quarterback are overjoyed.  It is almost unanimous on all the Auburn boards but not quite, you can count me out of the "the only way things get better is through Sean White" club.  I think this is another huge mistake by Malzahn and it reeks of desperation.  Anybody who thinks it is a good thing to throw a freshman who has never played a down before into a huge make-or-break conference game is sorely deluded in my opinion. 

This move also has future ramifications as Auburn is now also building for next season.  It is very clear Auburn will not be a championship contender this season even with significant improvement.  This is now a rebuilding year and the quarterback with the highest ceiling is Jeremy Johnson.  Johnson still stands 6'5'' and weighs 240 lbs and has a good arm and has show good touch and accuracy.  That is a hard combination to find and something you do not just throw away when the fans turn on you.  I believe the best thing for Auburn for this year and next is to get Johnson back on track.

Johnson still played well in appearances in 2013 and last season.  He has made some huge mistakes this season but anyone who thinks he is the main problem with Auburn right now is wrong in my opinion.  Auburn has the worst run defense in the entire country and a coach who has run almost 70% of the time on standard downs (1st and 10, 2nd and 7 or shorter, or 3rd and 5 or shorter).  The offense especially the passing game shows no signs at all of adequate coaching.  The line is lackluster and the receivers make a lot of mistakes.  All of those things are not Johnson's fault but lets blame the quarterback and not our multi-millionaire coaches.

Enter Sean White to take the heat off the coaches.  I have nothing against White, he is wearing my favorite number and has some impressive credentials.  Unfortunately I do not believe he can be anywhere near as good as Johnson.  He is shorter than Nick Marshall who could not see over the line and looks like a guy who always takes the short pass.  I watched him on A-day with no bias at all and saw a guy throw short nearly every time.  He does not look like he has the arm to throw the deep ball but of course it is hard to know.  Add to that observation that his playing time rests on not throwing any interceptions and you have a guy that will not take any risks.  He will take the checkdown every time.  I bet I will be able to count on one hand the number of throws he attempts over 15 yards.

Overreaction to interceptions is not conducive to a good passing game.  A good passing game is going to have them and while you want to avoid turnovers you have to balance that with making plays.  I think Sean White will probably not have any interceptions and will complete a lot of passes but I think they will mostly be short passes.  He will do just good enough to continue to hang on to the job including getting the confidence builder Johnson so desperately needs in San Jose State, a team that will not play nearly as well as Jacksonville State.

Will that be enough to beat Mississippi State?  Maybe but it won't be enough to beat many of the teams on our schedule this year or next.  Sean White is just not the answer right now in my opinion.  I just do not believe he will get a whole lot better than a guy that throws a lot of short high-percentage passes.  If I was Mississippi State I would press our receivers and bring those safeties up, make White throw over you.  You can guarantee Georgia and Bama and probably most of the rest of the tough teams on our schedule will.

I think #13 means bad luck for Auburn right now...