Auburn picked up former Texas A&M quarterback Zach Calzada out of the transfer portal on Thursday.
This is a repeat performance for Auburn. Last year, Auburn landed a quarterback from another SEC foe when it added T.J. Finley out of LSU. After Finley started the last three contests of the season and each of those games resulted in a loss, it was obvious that the QB position was a question mark for the Tigers heading into 2022.
Calzada, the 6-foot-4 passer from Sugar Hill, Georgia, will look to fill that hole. He was a 3-star recruit out of Lanier High School and ranked No. 18 among pro-style quarterbacks.
After redshirt freshman Haynes King took over as the starting QB for the Aggies last year, it looked like Calzada was destined for the bench at Texas A&M. However, King suffered a fractured leg against Colorado in the second game of the season, thrusting Calzada into the spotlight.
He took advantage of his opportunity, throwing for the only Aggie touchdown of the day to propel them to a 10-7 victory in his debut.
Calzada had high and low moments in the 2021 season in which he held a 6-4 record as a starter. Up until now, he is the only QB to take down the Alabama Crimson Tide this season. He went 21-for-31, racked up 285 yards passing and three scores to do so. Calzada and the Aggies put up 41 points in the game to shock the world and edge No. 1 Alabama on a game-winning field goal as time expired.
He also was behind center when Texas A&M took down Auburn 20-3 in College Station. That was mostly a defensive battle, as only one touchdown was scored in the game and it was on a fumble return by the Aggies. Calzada went 15-for-29 for 192 yards in the contest.
In total, Calzada had a 123.7 passer rating during the season. He completed 184 of his 328 pass attempts (56.1%) for 2,185 yards, 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
He will come to the Plains as a junior and will have three years of eligibility remaining.
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