Sophomore transfer Jarrett Stidham will be at the helm of the Auburn offense come week one against Georgia Southern, head coach Gus Malzahn announced Monday morning.
“Just told team Jarett Stidham will be the starting QB,” Malzahn said in a tweet. “The team is excited for Jarrett and ready for the season.”
High hopes were placed on Stidham’s shoulders immediately following his arrival on the Plains, as most saw the 6-3, 214-pound quarterback as the solution to Auburn’s under-center debacle.
Stidham, a former No. 1 dual-threat quarterback recruit, was named Auburn’s Offensive MVP of the annual A-Day Spring Game in April, completing 16 of 20 passes for 267 yards and a rushing touchdown.
“He [Stidham] has done a lot of good things,” Malzahn said after Auburn’s second scrimmage. “He’s a talented young man.”
As a freshman at Baylor, filling in for an injured Seth Russell, Stidham completed passes at a 69 percent clip, tossing 12 touchdowns to only two interceptions.
"I'm trying to step up and be a leader as fast as possible,” Stidham said in March. “It comes with time, to gain the trust of the guys on the team. But it's doing the little things that I think will hopefully stand out.
“I'm just trying to stay true to my personality. I just try to be a people person. Be a light in the room, whether we're in meetings or the weight room working out or on the field. I’m a big competitor, really in anything. It’s just the nature of who I am.”
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