After a pair of momentum-building wins that featured a more explosive and consistent offense, Auburn offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee had no shortage of praise for his quarterbacks.
"I think [Sean White] is playing very well," Lashlee said. "He ran the ball well, made some good decisions there. There’s just always that one or two throws that we’d like him to hit."
After playing with a knee injury during Auburn's disappointing 2015 campaign, the sophomore from Boca Raton, Florida, has bounced back this season, accounting for six touchdowns and leading the Tigers to a 3-2 start, including back-to-back wins over No. 18 LSU and UL-Monroe.
"I think you can see he’s comfortable," Lashlee said. "I think he’s playing well. He can play better. But he’s playing well."
White went 14-for-17 for 239 yards and two touchdowns with an additional rushing score in the Tigers 58-7 win over the Warhawks on Saturday. Auburn gained 688 total yards, the fourth-best total in school history.
However, White wasn't the only quarterback who had a say in the Tigers monster afternoon. Junior John Franklin III entered the game with five minutes remaining in the third quarter. Two plays later, he dashed through the heart of the UL-Monroe defense for an 80-yard touchdown – the first of his career. Later in the quarter, he earned his first touchdown pass with a 39-yard lob to freshman Nate Craig-Myers.
Lashlee was happy to see the junior college transfer capitalize on his increased playing time, but Franklin's talents present a scheming problem of sorts for the Tigers. How do the coaches go about using Franklin without disrupting the flow of the offense?
"You don’t want to disrupt the rhythm of your offense and get into a quarterback shuffle, and we’re not going to do that," Lashlee said. "But John is an explosive player for us. We’ll just kind of take that week to week and see what we think we can do there."
Auburn's heated quarterback battle, waged throughout spring and fall camps, allowed the quarterbacks to form a bond through competition. Five games later, with Auburn's offense gaining steam and the quarterback pecking order firmly in place, Lashlee remains impressed by how close his passers are.
"It doesn’t matter who is in there; they find a way to humble themselves and genuinely pull for the guy out there and help each other," Lashlee said.
After its three-quarterback approach against Clemson backfired, Auburn committed to White as its starter, which paid dividends during the Tigers five-game home stretch. Even though that hurt Franklin and senior Jeremy Johnson's prospects of playing time, Lashlee believes there's no animosity among his quarterbacks.
"There are times you may not agree or be disappointed, but they always put the team first and really pull for their teammates," Lashlee said. "Credit to those guys more than anything."
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