Auburn’s quarterback quandary won’t spill over into the summer after all.Head coach Gene Chizik surprised many Wednesday by announcing that Cam Newton has been named the Tigers’ No. 1 quarterback coming out of spring practice.
Chizik informed the team during a meeting.
“After thoroughly evaluating our quarterbacks during spring practice and over the last week, Cam has emerged as our post-spring No. 1 quarterback,” Chizik said in a press release.
“Obviously, he will have a lot of work to do over the summer and during two-a-days to continue along this path. We fully expect our other quarterbacks to continue to work hard and compete with Cam during the offseason and into fall camp.”
Newton beat out senior Neil Caudle, sophomore Barrett Trotter and redshirt freshman Clint Moseley.
The announcement came only a week after Chizik said he expected the competition to continue into the summer. He and the coaches wanted more time to review the performance of all four quarterbacks from the spring before naming a No. 1.
While the timing of Wednesday’s announcement was a surprise, the decision itself was not. The 6-foot-6, 245-pound Newton was the presumed frontrunner all along after transferring to Auburn in January from Blinn (Texas) Community College.
He won the 2009 NJCAA National Championship with the Buccaneers, throwing for 2,833 yards and 22 touchdowns and running for 655 yards and another 16 scores. The dual-threat was ranked the No. 1 junior college prospect by Rivals.com.
Before Blinn CC, he spent two years at Florida, where he served as Tim Tebow’s backup. Newton is a native of College Park, Ga.
Despite Newton’s credentials, Auburn rotated its quarterbacks almost evenly throughout spring drills. The Tigers gave three — Newton, Caudle and Trotter — the majority of series during the A-Day scrimmage on April 17.
Both Caudle and Trotter outperformed Newton in that game. Caudle went 17-for-21 for 199 yards and a touchdown. Trotter was 7-for-9 for 154 yards and two scores.
Newton, with limited passing opportunities, went 3-for-8 for 80 yards. He showed off his arm strength on a 61-yard deep ball to Quindarius Carr but overthrew an open Jay Wisner in the end zone on back-to-back passes.
Despite a less-than-thrilling performance during A-Day, Newton satisfied his own goals during the spring.
“In a short period of time, I think I’ve grasped the offense pretty much,” Newton said. “I still have a long way to go, don’t get me wrong, but as far as getting the base of the offense, I’m pretty much comfortable with it.”
Newton also made strides in winning over his teammates.
“Strong, athletic, fast. He’s everything they talked him up to be,” linebacker Craig Stevens said. “He’s earned a lot of people’s respect. He didn’t come in too arrogant or anything. He just came in, got to know everyone and that’s crucial at that position.”
2 comments:
WAR EAGLE BABY!
Wow Andy! You finally got your QB question answered huh? That ones been bothering you all spring, lol. Do you think the coaches were just doping you reporters along to help take pressure off the kids? Great coverage by the way.
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