For not having played in a meaningful game since high school, Sean White looked relatively poised in his start against Mississippi State.
He had a firm command of the offense, he generally made the right reads, and for the most part he didn't attempt to force any unnecessary throws into tight coverage. He even showed off his wheels on a few occasions, scrambling from heavy pressure to pick a few modest gains on the ground instead of trying to make a miraculous play downfield.
"I felt fine," White said after the game. "I wish we could've pulled out the win. I'm obviously disappointed, but I felt good playing for the first time. I felt comfortable."
He did have a few freshman mistakes, which were to be expected. He missed a read on a zone-read handoff to Peyton Barber from the 1-yard line, choosing to hand it to Barber instead of keeping the ball and scoring. And on Auburn's first drive of the game, he rolled out to the right inside the 10-yard line, and fired a pass across his body towards the middle of the field--right to Will Blackmon, who was wearing a white jersey. Although that is a play that a savvy quarterback wouldn't attempt, White knew he was trying to force it.
"I made a bad read," White said. "But I'll correct it in film and be better next week."
Despite taking over for Jeremy Johnson in the thick of the season, White has the support of the locker room, which he insists is a tightly knit group of guys who aren't giving up on the season, even with a 2-2 record.
“We did some things different, but most things were the same…run the football, get the ball to our receivers, just like it always is for almost any offense," said guard Alex Kozan. "I thought Sean played his butt off. Sean led us on some great drives. At the end of the day, we just have to finish those drives. I think we were down in the red zone four times and no touchdowns to show for it. That’s the game right there.”
Auburn's game against San Jose State will be a good test for White to acclimate to running the offense in a nonconference game. There aren't any berths in the SEC Championship on the line, and since Auburn has fallen out of the national rankings, the eyes of America will more than likely not be on The Plains Saturday afternoon.
With coach Gus Malzahn announcing Tuesday that White will indeed start again, White can put all his energy into getting an Auburn offense that has been struggling the past few weeks into a steady rhythm.
The Tigers have only scored 88 points this season, which is the second-fewest in the SEC, ahead of only Missouri's 83. Auburn has been plagued with a distinct lack of explosive plays this year, one of Malzahn's trademarks. Since the quarterback play has suffered from inconsistency, opposing defenses are repeatedly not respecting the deep throws, choosing instead to play several yards off of Auburn's receivers, preventing any deep threats from materializing.
But if White can develop a sort of consistency at the quarterback position, things could start to open up.
Another largely overlooked aspect of Auburn’s struggles has been the play of the offensive line, whose success determines how the rest of the team will perform.
In the first half of the Mississippi State game, the Bulldogs’ defensive line bullied the Tigers, constantly getting penetration into the backfield and disrupting any potential motion-oriented plays Auburn had drawn up before they could materialize. They also put pressure on White, who wasn’t quite able to adjust to SEC defenses that weren’t his own.
In the second half, however, Auburn’s offensive line began to give the offense some breathing room. They began plowing holes through Mississippi State’s defense, clearing massive lanes for Peyton Barber, Roc Thomas, and Kerryon Johnson to run free through.
White began to have more time in the pocket as well, and he was able to deliver more precise strikes to gain some of those more explosive plays.
Against a San Jose State team that only gives up 94.5 passing yards per game, White has a tough test in front of him, but that test should give him confidence moving forward into the meat of the SEC schedule.
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