Lost in the pandemonium that was Auburn’s 54-46 loss to Arkansas was a performance that didn’t seem possible only a few weeks ago.
Sean White, who many expected to sit on the bench and wait his turn behind Jeremy Johnson this season, was thrust into the starting lineup after Johnson’s early-season struggles, and the 6-foot redshirt freshman capped off his first month as the starter with another admirable performance in the Tigers’ four-overtime loss.
White has gained experience and confidence over his four collegiate starts, but especially at Kentucky and Arkansas (3-4, 2-2 SEC), where he received his first taste of road environments in the SEC.
“It was a good experience, despite the loss,” White said. “(The loss is) disappointing, but it’s a good experience going into an overtime game, tight game, on the road in the SEC.”
Though White still has not thrown a touchdown in his four starts, he threw for 254 yards and completed 19 of his 32 pass attempts, despite his receivers dropping seven passes in the game.
Drops were an issue early in the game – Auburn (4-3, 1-3 SEC) receivers dropped two of White’s first three passes – and the problem persisted through the final play, when Ricardo Louis dropped a pass on fourth-and-9 to end the game.
Wide receiver Melvin Ray was disappointed the wideouts didn’t do more to help their quarterback.
“It’s very frustrating, because we’ve been ready for this kind of game where (White is) going to air it out and give us opportunities,” Ray said. “From the get-go, we started off on the wrong foot. That’s just something we can’t do. We’ve got to give him confidence that we’re going to be in the right place at the right time and make the catches for him to help him out.”
Through the early struggles, White maintained his composure.
He completed all four of his passes on a 96-yard yard drive just before halftime and remained hot in the second half, completing four passes on Auburn’s game-tying drive to stretch his completion streak to eight.
“I thought Sean White did some good things,” said coach Gus Malzahn. “He battled. He took some shots. He’s getting more comfortable each game.”
White’s real moment of truth came in a situation he had not yet faced in college.
Arkansas drove 67 yards on 13 plays to set up what appeared to be a 25-yard, game-winning field goal.
Auburn had only 1:07 left on the clock when kicker Daniel Carlson delivered a message to his quarterback.
“I told Sean right before they started that drive, ‘Just get me across midfield and I’ll have a chance’,” Carlson said. “The offense did a really good job and got me (in range).”
White was not content to only push the ball past midfield and give Carlson a chance. Instead, he led a 50-yard drive to set up a makeable 41-yard field goal, which Carlson drilled with four seconds remaining to send the game to overtime.
“With no timeouts, we knew we needed a field goal,” White said. “Daniel Carlson told me, “If you just get me close, I’ll make the field goal. Get me within 60 yards, I’ll make the field goal.’ I used that and said we just need to go down there and, obviously try to score a touchdown, but we’ve got to get in field goal range.”
Wide receiver Ricardo Louis said he never had any doubt in White, who stayed cool and collected in the high-pressure situation.
“Sean just kept his composure,” Louis said. “I appreciate his attitude even though we didn't complete some passes. We dropped the ball, and he just stuck in there and continued to play, and I appreciate him for that."
Despite his clutch play down the stretch, White insisted there were things he could have done better.
“I wasn’t perfect, there’s no doubt,” White said. “I’ll know more when I watch the film tomorrow. When the game is going you’re on to the next play so fast you can’t really think about it. I’m sure there’s plays I could have done better on.”
The loss dropped the Tigers to last place in the SEC West after they were picked to win the conference at SEC Media Days, and Auburn is only now headed into the meat of their schedule.
While many may consider 2015 a lost season, White insisted the team will continue to fight.
“We definitely still have something to play for,” White said. “We have three losses. It’s not the end of the world.”
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