Auburn Football

ATLANTA — Tempo is one of the staples of Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn's offense, so it makes sense that he would be in a little more of hurry than most to name a starting quarterback.

In each of the five quarterback battles Malzahn has been a part of either as Auburn's offensive coordinator (2009-2011) or head coach (2013-present), he has named a starting quarterback prior to the season. The latest he has named a starting quarterback was as Auburn's coordinator in 2011, when he named Barrett Trotter the No. 1 guy on Aug. 18, according to the school. 

Player	Year	Named Starter
Chris Todd	2009	Aug. 13
Cam Newton	2010	April 28
Barrett Trotter	2011	Aug. 18
Nick Marshall	2013	Aug. 17
Jeremy Johnson	2015	April 20

Expect the current quarterback battle taking place among Jeremy Johnson, Sean White and junior college transfer John Franklin III to follow the same path.

"We're going to name somebody," Malzahn said prior to his Tiger Trek event at the College Football Hall of Fame on Wednesday. "Hopefully sooner rather than later once we start fall camp."

Johnson has the most experience running the offense. After serving as Nick Marshall's primary backup and starting two games in his stead, he entered the 2015 season with a ton of hype. But he threw six interceptions in the first three games of the season, was benched in favor of Sean White for the fourth game of the year against Mississippi State and Auburn played "musical quarterbacks" for the rest of the season.

White wasn't bad in a pinch. 

The 2013 Elite 11 camp MVP and 2014 Under Armour All-American Game MVP completed 58 percent of his passes (83-of-143) and showed off the accuracy that made him such a highly decorated prospect at times as a redshirt freshman. 

But the presence of Franklin—a former Florida State Seminole who served as "Nick Marshall" on the FSU scout team leading up to the 2014 BCS Championship Game between the Seminoles and Tigers—makes a two-quarterback system a possibility again in 2016.

Consider that "Plan B."

"We really want to have a starter," Malzahn said. "We have ways that we'll put our guys in situations for somebody to step up. Like Nick Marshall a couple of years ago. It was pretty equal for two or three weeks, but we decided to go 'live' one time and he won the job that day. Hopefully we won't get to a point where our quarterbacks have to go live in fall camp."

Auburn did make its primary quarterback contenders go live twice during spring practice, and it was something that benefited Franklin—who's very similar to Marshall as an edge threat who can make defenders miss in space.

The only chance the public got to see the former East Mississippi Community College backup this spring was in the spring game, when quarterbacks were whistled down anytime a defender took a breath anywhere near them.

"I wish I played 'live' today," Franklin said after Auburn's spring game. "I could have gotten some other stuff done."

Player	Comp./Att.	Comp. %	Pass Yds	TD	INT	Rush Yds	Rush TD
Jeremy Johnson	95-of-157	60.5	1,054	10	7	137	6
Sean White	83-of-143	58.0	1,167	1	4	35	0
John Franklin III*	64-of-110	58.9	733	7	2	451	9

Malzahn's trend and statement suggest that he'll pick a guy in mid-August and roll with him. But with national runner-up Clemson looming in Week 1—by far, the most difficult season opener he has faced at Auburn—Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney isn't ruling anything out.

"Still don't know a lot about them offensively because we're not sure who the quarterback is, but we'll continue to prepare for what they do," he said at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Challenge. "Openers are always tough because there are new faces on both sides with a lot of unknowns. You have a long time to prepare for one game. A tough opener for us, no doubt."

Malzahn has made a change in how he approaches life as a head coach. Instead of taking more of a CEO role, he was more hands-on this spring with all of his offensive players—but specifically with his quarterbacks. 

"In the spring, I was pretty hands-on with the entire offense," he said. "Kind of back to what I used do with the past. Tried to get a really good feel for [Franklin], but at the same time, make sure that I'm part of the everyday function of the offense."

Because of that change, Malzahn's trend of naming starters well before the season starts, and this being such a critical year for Malzahn's professional life, expect him to stay true to his roots and let the offense grow behind one player during the final few weeks of fall camp.

With White still relatively inexperienced and Franklin still learning, unquestioned first-team snaps are imperative for the 2016 Tigers.

Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics courtesy of CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted. Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.

Four members of the Auburn football team—defensive end Byron Cowart, defensive back Carlton Davis, wideout Ryan Davis and defensive back Jeremiah Dinson, all of whom are sophomores—were arrested Saturday night on charges of second-degree marijuana possession, per Tom Green of the Opelika-Auburn News. 

"I am aware of the situation, and we will handle this matter appropriately," Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn said in a statement.

Citing Alabama Code, Green reported the arrested players could be fined up to $6,000 and sentenced to a maximum of one year in jail.

All four saw the field in their freshman season. Carlton Davis was the top performer, registering 56 total tackles and leading the Tigers with three interceptions. Dinson and Cowart had 15 and six total tackles, respectively. Ryan Davis carried the ball twice for 20 yards in two games.

The quartet helped form a 2015 recruiting class that sat eighth nationally in 247Sports' composite rankings. Here's where each player ranked individually, per 247Sports:

Player	Positional Rank	Overall Rank
Byron Cowart, SDE	No. 1	No. 3
Ryan Davis, WR	No. 24	No. 188
Carlton Davis, CB	No. 33	No. 340
Jeremiah Dinson, CB	No. 105	No. 1,205

Much will be expected of Cowart in particular next year. Bleacher Report's Barrett Sallee believes he is in line to have a big season:

At 6'3", 277 pounds, Cowart has the size to be a force against the run, but also the speed to be either a force off the edge or someone who drops down inside in obvious pass-rushing situations to get more speed on the field.

He finished last year with just six tackles playing more of a backup role under former coordinator Will Muschamp, but should elevate to the top of the depth chart as a sophomore and reach the potential that made him a 5-star prospect 13 months ago.

In June 2014, police in Abbeville, Alabama, arrested then-Auburn cornerback Jonathon Mincy on second-degree marijuana possession. Malzahn kept him out of the starting lineup for the Tigers' 2014 season opener, but Mincy did play in the game. A similar punishment could be in store for the four players arrested over the weekend.

Auburn opens the 2016 season on Sept. 3 at home against the Clemson Tigers.

AUBURN, Ala. — Plenty of Auburn fans expected a true freshman to quickly emerge as a starter at defensive end opposite star pass-rusher Carl Lawson.

Few, if any, expected that defensive end to be Marlon Davidson.

Several months after former 5-star and top-five recruit Byron Cowart opened his Auburn career with just six tackles and zero sacks, the 4-star Davidson enrolled early on the Plains.

A few weeks after his arrival, Davidson found himself lining up with the first team on one of the deepest defensive lines in college football. He made the quick leap that Cowart was expected to make in 2015's fall camp.

"I've been here five years, and as far as freshmen coming in to play—especially in the spring—he's as good as I've ever seen," Auburn left guard Alex Kozan said. "He's got to keep working, keep improving, but he's solid. I think he's ready to play now."

While his classmates at Greenville High School 100 miles away were preparing for their senior prom, Davidson was getting ready to become a potential starter in the SEC.

A few days after Kozan declared him the best true freshman he had ever seen, Davidson got the first of what could be many starts inside Jordan-Hare Stadium at the annual A-Day Game. He matched fellow starter Lawson with four tackles, which were the most of any defensive lineman in the scrimmage.

"Consistency in a young guy is really hard to find, and that's what he's been able to do," Lawson said. "He's been able to be consistent and every day come out here and try to get better. He takes coaching. When he [coach Rodney Garner] gets hard, a lot of young guys don't take it very well. He's been prepped for it."

The coaching that Lawson referred to is the trademark vocal nature of defensive line assistant Rodney Garner, a former Auburn player who has coached for more than 25 years in the SEC. 

Auburn DL coach Rodney Garner on freshman DE Marlon Davidson: "I've enjoyed watching him get beat at times. That's a humbling experience."

— Justin Ferguson (@JFergusonAU) March 29, 2016

Starting defensive tackle Montravius Adams said it takes a while for blue-chip recruits such as Davidson to get adjusted to "Coach G" and the way he runs practices.

Garner isn't normally one for high praise in his interviews, especially with questions about highly touted underclassmen. But this spring, he was positive in his outlook on Davidson.

"I think he's got a chance to have an impact and help our team," Garner said. "Marlon, he continues to get better every day. I think he has very bright future."

As a strong-side defensive end, Davidson brings a different kind of size and versatility to an Auburn defensive line that is loaded with experience. He was listed this spring at 6'3" and 281 pounds, and he has the ability to move inside.

In spring ball, the Tigers used him on the interior during passing situations to provide an extra burst of pressure up the middle.

"He's extremely quick and powerful for a young guy," new Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele said.

Auburn DC Kevin Steele on freshman DL Marlon Davidson: "Marlon has done extremely well this spring." #MGMAuburn

— Matthew Stevens (@matthewcstevens) April 5, 2016

While some coaches want to slow-play their incoming freshmen and ease them into life at the college level, Steele is the complete opposite.

He sees a potential difference-maker in Davidson, and the veteran coach is pushing him as hard as he can, regardless of his age.

"I don't have brakes. I ain't tapping no brakes," Steele said. "We'll go as full speed and as fast as we can. He is a guy that's very physically, mentally and emotionally mature. ... If you'd watched it and didn't know, you'd think he'd been around for a couple of years, and that's the biggest thing."

Davidson might be a new student on Auburn's campus, but he has been around the program for several years now. 

The defensive end started coming on unofficial visits to Auburn in 2012, when his older brother Kenneth Carter was a starter on the defensive line. Carter now works for Auburn football on its support staff.

Carter was nearly identical to Davidson in size during his Auburn playing days, and he made starts as both an end and a defensive tackle. Lawson even said this spring the best comparison to Davidson's playing style was Carter.

Even when Davidson's recruitment exploded as a junior and he started receiving offers from schools all over the country, Auburn was always a projected leader for his signature.

He committed to Auburn last September and, despite a strong push from Alabama, signed his financial aid agreement with the Tigers in December. 

"The sky is the limit," Carter told Keith Niebuhr of 247Sports last fall. "He can play any spot he wants. That’s the way I feel, by looking at him and the way he moves and how big he is."

True freshman DL Marlon Davidson a spring standout at Auburn (FREE) https://t.co/lJgmZgxtPM pic.twitter.com/gr40sDLZ2k

— Bryan Matthews (@BMattAU) April 5, 2016

A few months later, Davidson has already carved out his own spot on the defensive line, serving as the instant-impact defensive end Auburn fans have been craving for quite some time.

With the amount of rotation Garner likes on his defensive line and the depth the Tigers have built up there, there's still a role for Cowart—the former recruiting star who Davidson has passed in a short amount of time—in 2016. As Garner says, everyone's adjustment to college football is different.

"Some guys are quicker than others," Garner said. "That doesn't equate to success or failure, I don't think. This guy may come in in year one and live up to those expectations. This guy may not live up to those in year two or three. That doesn't equate to whether he was successful or not."

Early in his "year one," Davidson has met and even exceeded the highest expectations set on him by topping the depth chart as an early enrollee. 

The work has to continue throughout the summer and into fall camp, but Davidson's teammates agree that he's well on his way to greatness, echoing his older brother.

"He's a competitor," Adams said. "Everything he does, he competes. In this league, that's just what you have to do. I think with him doing that, he's just going to keep getting better.

"The sky is the limit."

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Recruiting rankings are courtesy of 247Sports.

Justin Ferguson is a National College Football Analyst at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.

AUBURN, Ala. — Jamel Dean thought his college football career was over before it even started.

Dean was on track to play at Ohio State, where he would be part of a team looking to defend a national title. But a pair of knee injuries late in his high school career jeopardized his future. The 4-star cornerback was then told he wasn't healthy enough to play for the Buckeyes.

However, a year after fearing the worst, Dean is back on the football field and taking full advantage of his second chance at Auburn.

"It felt real great to be out there [in spring practices] and experience it knowing my knee is still holding up," Dean said. "I feel like it’s going to be a great season for me. ... It just seems like I've been waiting a long time for this."

In his junior season of high school in Cocoa, Florida, Dean committed to play for Urban Meyer and Ohio State. That same year, the athletic 6'2" cornerback tore his ACL and meniscus. A year later, in the final game of his high school career, Dean re-tore the meniscus in the same knee.

https://twitter.com/IanLGHL/status/545666105872621572

But Dean still arrived at Ohio State in January 2015 to enroll early. A few months later, Eleven Warriors reported the Buckeyes medical staff didn't clear him to play. He was then offered a medical hardship, which would allow him to stay in school with an academic scholarship. 

Dean's high school coach, John Wilkinson, told Doug Lesmerises of Cleveland.com he believed the Buckeyes were forcing the young corner out because they oversigned in their 2015 class.

Ohio State denied the accusation, and Meyer later said he would give his staff an "A-plus" for how they handled Dean's situation, per Lesmerises.

Urban Meyer said the entire Jamel Dean situation was handled by the medical staff and it’s not the old days where you can argue with them.

— Ben Axelrod (@BenAxelrod) April 13, 2015

Dean sought a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews, the world-renowned sports surgeon. According to Lesmerises, Andrews told Dean he would be able to resume full football activities by the summer of 2015.

With Andrews' second opinion in hand, Dean looked for a way out of Columbus. A month later, Dean announced he was transferring to Auburn, joining then-defensive coordinator Will Muschamp and then-defensive backs coach Travaris Robinson, who once recruited him to play at Florida.

At first, things didn't go according to plan for Dean at Auburn. He sat out the 2015 season with a redshirt due to the NCAA's transfer rules, so he never got a chance to play in a game for the coaches who recruited him.

Despite Muschamp's and Robinson's departures to South Carolina in December, Dean still turned heads as Auburn prepared for the Birmingham Bowl against Memphis. When practices resumed this March, Dean picked up right where he left off with the Tigers.

Cornerback Jamel Dean climbing Auburn's depth chart early in spring practicehttps://t.co/9IQ2rajco5 pic.twitter.com/H5bz1OnU13

— James Crepea (@JamesCrepea) March 23, 2016

"He has a lot of talent," Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn said. "He can run. He's a physical guy. He really caught our attention in bowl practice when we did some scrimmaging, and he's carried it over into spring."

In the year since his situation with the Buckeyes came to light, Dean's outlook has changed. 

He told David Jones of Florida Today last summer Ohio State's coaches "really didn't care" whether he stayed in Columbus or not and that he would have "a lot of anger built up" if Auburn ever played Ohio State.

That wasn't the case this spring.

"I don't hold any grudges," Dean said. "I wanted to try something new, and I wanted to be back in the South. I thought [Auburn] was the best fit for me just because of the defense they run."

Dean is focused more on his future with the Tigers, which looks bright. He adjusted to a new defensive coaching staff—which runs a system similar to the one he signed up for with Muschamp—and battled with Javaris Davis for a starting cornerback spot opposite 2015 breakout star Carlton Davis.

By the end of spring camp, Dean was lining up with the first team almost exclusively and drawing the praises of coaches and teammates alike.

"The guy I'm really excited about is Jamel Dean," new Auburn defensive backs coach Wesley McGriff said. "What a big corner that's explosive with speed. We have some tools on the outside that's going to give us a chance to line up, be able to play man, play zone and be able to keep the football in front of us."

Standing at 6'2" and 205 pounds, Dean's size and physical nature make him a perfect match for All-SEC freshman Carlton Davis, who is 6'1" and 190 pounds.

"We're both about the same," Dean said. "Both of us can cover. Both of us have length, and both of us are strong."

Auburn DB Nick Ruffin on Jamel Dean: "A big, lanky corner. Having somebody w/ that length is something not every school has." #MGMAuburn

— Matthew Stevens (@matthewcstevens) March 22, 2016

The two represent a gradual change in philosophy at Auburn, which has recruited bigger defensive backs in recent classes to combat the larger receivers who dominate the SEC.

"It gives the receiver a hard time at the line of scrimmage," Dean said. "Throws off the offense's rhythm."

While the battle between Dean and Javaris Davis is expected to continue into fall camp, the redshirt freshman appears to have the early advantage. But even if Javaris Davis commands a top spot on the depth chart by the season opener, new defensive coordinator Kevin Steele still projects Dean as a key player.

"In this league, to sustain it through the long haul, you're going to have to have 18-plus guys that are really starters," Steele said. "If you've got less than that, it's going to be hard sometimes. We tell them not to worry about that, and when your name is called, just go play, and they've done a nice job with that."

With his physical gifts and hunger to play again, Dean has the opportunity to be a game-changing defensive back in the Auburn secondary for years to come.

Although it was thrown into doubt this time last year, Dean's football career is far from over. It's just getting started.

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Recruiting rankings are courtesy of 247Sports.

Justin Ferguson is a National College Football Analyst at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.

AUBURN, Ala. — Spring games tend to create big-time reactions—both positive and negative—for what is essentially a glorified scrimmage that happens to be open to the fans and the media.

Auburn's A-Day Game on Saturday had the potential to spark hot takes on both ends of the spectrum. The fourth spring game under Gus Malzahn received mostly glowing reviews for the defense and plenty of underwhelming feedback for the offense.

But the weekend's action from Jordan-Hare Stadium should be viewed in the proper context. A walk-on running back led the team in carries. The clock never stopped in the third and fourth quarters. It was more of a football-like substance than an actual game.

And while it's smart to avoid putting too much stock into the stat sheets and the highlights from the only televised game from now until September, reasonable takeaways can still be gleaned from A-Day. Auburn had a few trends that need to be top priorities for the rest of the offseason, starting with Tuesday's final practice of spring camp.

What should Auburn be most concerned about after its 2016 A-Day Game? Here are three main areas Malzahn's Tigers need improvement in.

Quarterback situation

Auburn's quarterback battle was never going to be decided Saturday. Gus Malzahn wasn't going to go with anything other than "vanilla" with his offensive play-calling, either.

But even though Auburn's three-way quarterback derby of former starters Jeremy Johnson, Sean White and JUCO newcomer John Franklin III was projected to continue into fall camp, the spring game didn't make things any clearer for the Tigers' situation under center.

None of the three quarterbacks impressed Saturday. White (8-of-14 passing for 125 yards) had the best numbers, but he had a back-breaking fumble inside the red zone and almost threw an easy interception. Johnson completed less than half of his attempts for 35 yards and a short touchdown.

Franklin had a 40-yard, up-for-grabs completion that fell between two defenders and into the hands of Marcus Davis for a touchdown, which Ben Bolton of AL News Network highlighted below. He completed six of his other 11 pass attempts for only 21 more yards.

Signs of life on a hail-mary before the half for #Auburn
John Franklin III finds Marcus Davis for a 40-yard TD pass pic.twitter.com/ftezNvRCSv

— Ben Bolton (@BBoltonMedia) April 9, 2016

As Phillip Marshall of Auburn Undercover noted, spring game statistics aren't usually reflective of how a Tiger quarterback is going to perform in the regular season:

Last April, Jeremy Johnson completed 14-of-22 passes in Auburn’s A-Day game for 252 yards and a 36-yard touchdown.

In April of 2013, Jonathan Wallace completed 18-of-26 passes for 191 yards and two touchdowns. ... Kiehl Frazier completed 10-of-16 for 125 yards and one touchdown.

In 2010, Barrett Trotter completed 7-of-9 passes for 154 yards, including touchdown passes of 50 and 44 yards. Neil Caudle completed 17-of-21 for 199 yards, including a 70-yard touchdown. Cam Newton? He was 3-of-8 for 80 yards and no touchdowns. ...

Way back in 1971, Pat Sullivan threw five interceptions in the A-Day game and won the Heisman Trophy the following November.

What did all those numbers mean?

Not much.

While Marshall is 100 percent correct in his charge not to look too much into spring game stats, it's still at least somewhat concerning for Auburn that none of the quarterbacks were strong or showed any sort of separation Saturday. 

Some of that might be due to the "touch football" rules on the quarterbacks, which took away a huge chunk of Franklin's effectiveness as a run-first signal-caller. Maybe Auburn's first-team defense, which looked much improved, just played lights out against the trio.

Auburn didn't need to produce an answer to its quarterback question at A-Day. But if the goal of the game was to get more clarity on the all-important position in a live situation, that didn't appear to happen.

Overall offensive execution

The lack Auburn's quarterbacks producing anything impressive was part of an offense-wide problem on Saturday, particularly in the area of execution.

With a plain offense that was using a fraction of its playbook, Auburn was an abysmal 1-of-22 as a whole on third downs and only scored one touchdown in the red zone.

Some of that can be chalked up to an improved defense. But that low rate was alarming, considering the defense finished 110th nationally last season, with opponents converting 44.95 percent of their third-down tries against the Tigers. Dana Sulonen of the Opelika-Auburn News noted Auburn's red-zone concerns:

Auburn's offense stalled in the red zone. No folks, this is 2016. I didn't jump back to last season.

— Dana Sulonen (@DanaSulonen) April 9, 2016

"When you rotate three quarterbacks with different groups and you have different receivers, that is a challenge," Malzahn said, per Brandon Marcello of SEC Country. "You have to give our defense some credit on that. As far as being concerned, I am not concerned at all. I thought the defense did an outstanding job and made them earn it."

While Malzahn didn't sound concerned after A-Day, one of his quarterbacks saw the glaring need for better offensive execution.

"The fluidity of the offense (is something we need to work on)," White said, per Bleacher Report's Barrett Sallee. "We have to put more touchdowns on the board. I know it was a shortened game, but we have to put more touchdowns up and get the offense rolling to be back where Coach Malzahn wants it."

Auburn struggled with offensive momentum and consistency last season, and Saturday's game didn't do much to ease those concerns. Even with a limited offense and quarterbacks who weren't able to show off their mobility, the third-down woes and drive-killing fumbles were tough to swallow.

Malzahn said early in the spring that one of his goals was for Auburn to find its edge again on offense after the worst statistical season of his college coaching career. In the only totally open practice of camp, that old edge wasn't there.

Run defense

Auburn had a lot of positives to take away from A-Day on the defensive side of the ball, but it was still somewhat lacking in a specific area that hurt the Tigers last season.

The Tigers ranked 80th nationally in rushing yards allowed per attempt and 75th in rushing plays of 10 or more yards allowed in 2015. On Saturday, the two offenses combined for 318 rushing yards, with the first-choice members of the Blue Team breaking off 10.6 yards per touch on the reserve defense.

Jovon Robinson went 83 yards on just 10 carries, recording a 55-yard run. Chandler Cox and Kamryn Pettway—two fullbacks cross-training at running back this spring—had carries of 71 and 40 yards, respectively.

Those rushing defense woes highlighted a lack of depth at linebacker, which has long been a concern for Auburn heading into the 2016 season.

Deshaun Davis had a game-high nine tackles while playing for both squads, while Tre' Williams and Darrell Williams recorded six tackles for the Blue Team. Outside of those players, though, the linebacker production was minimal.

"We were pretty physical," Tre' Williams said, per Wesley Sinor of AL.com. "We gave up a few runs, and that's something we have to work on."

Auburn's defense will be able to pride itself on its depth across the front four this season, and the reserves are well-stocked in the secondary.

But linebacker is a different story, with Tre' Williams serving as the only true linebacker with meaningful game experience. The Tigers need Illinois transfer T.J. Neal to provide quality experience this fall as they continue to develop their young corps.

And whether they're on the first-, second- or third-team defenses, any Tiger taking the field at linebacker could use improvement over the rest of the offseason in limiting those explosive plays on the ground.

Stats courtesy of CFBStats.com.

Justin Ferguson is a National College Football Analyst at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.

AUBURN, Ala. — Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn built a reputation and won a national title as an assistant and an SEC title as a head coach based on his high-octane offense that has worked at every stop over the last decade—regardless of the style of quarterback.

That reputation is on the verge of being reversed after last year's struggles that saw Malzahn swing and miss by naming Jeremy Johnson his starting quarterback after spring practice and with an offense that finished 10th in the SEC in total offense (370 yards per game) and 11th in yards per play (5.39).

Saturday's spring game was an indication that the slide could continue, and it raised more questions than answers in the three-man battle for the top spot on the depth chart at quarterback.

Johnson completed just six of 13 passes for 35 yards and an eight-yard touchdown to Roc Thomas. Junior college transfer John Franklin III did complete seven of 11 passes but for only 61 yards—40 of which came on a touchdown pass to Marcus Davis that somehow made it through the arms of two waiting defenders.

Redshirt sophomore Sean White showed the most touch and completed eight of 14 passes for 125 yards. But he fumbled once in the red zone and had a surefire interception dropped by T.J. Davis.

"The big negative for me was when our quarterbacks who have had the reps with the first-team running backs put the ball on the ground on the zone read," Malzahn said. "That was probably the biggest negative from an offensive standpoint all day."

The offense featured an abundance of bubble screens and timing routes, with very few shots deep to receivers. 

"We were pretty vanilla offensively," Malzahn said. "That was by design."

That's OK in spring games, since the last thing a coach wants to do is give away too much of the playbook to early-season opponents—the first of which is national runner-up Clemson. 

But Auburn's biggest issue last year was a vanilla, predictable offense; and Saturday's spring game did nothing to calm the fears of the Auburn Family that 2015 was the aberration, not the start of a trend.

What's even more concerning than the lack of a deep passing threat is that, even in a vanilla offense, Auburn went 1-of-22 combined on third downs on the afternoon.

Even vanilla offenses need to do better than that, whether it's in a real game, spring game, scrimmage or video game. The primary goal for Auburn moving forward in the offseason is to create some sort explosiveness.

"The fluidity of the offense (is something we need to work on)," White said. "We have to put more touchdowns on the board. I know it was a shortened game, but we have to put more touchdowns up and get the offense rolling to be back where Coach Malzahn wants it."

Somebody needs to step up at quarterback to create the explosiveness that Auburn needs.

Can any of the quarterbacks on the roster stretch the field deep to take pressure off running back Jovon Robinson?

Can Franklin become consistent enough to become a weapon as a dual-threat quarterback in a more multidimensional offense that mirrors the one that Nick Marshall ran when he led Auburn to the 2013 SEC title?

Can Auburn protect the football when it matters most?

All of those questions remain unanswered, due in part to the vanilla game plan (which is OK) but mostly due to the inability of the quarterbacks to consistently stretch the field when shots were called and the inability to move the chains (which are not OK).

What Auburn showed off to the 45,723 fans at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday and many more watching on the SEC Network was an offense that was pretty much identical to the one that led to the 7-6 season in 2015.

Auburn's quarterback situation is murky, and it got even murkier in the spring game. 

Quotes were obtained firsthand, unless otherwise noted. Statistics are courtesy of CFBStats.com, unless otherwise noted, and recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.