Auburn Football: Nick Marshall Not Sharp, but Still the Man at QB
Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall sat out the first half of the season, as Jeremy Johnson—his backup—lit up the stat sheet with 243 yards and two touchdowns in a 45-21 win over Arkansas.
Quarterback controversy?
No.
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Marshall is the man at Auburn, but it's clear from his performance in the Tigers' 59-13 win over San Jose State on Saturday night that he still has some work to do through the air. The senior completed 10 of 19 passes for 101 yards, one touchdown and no picks.
He sailed several passes, lost accuracy when he needed to put more touch on throws and generally looked like the same raw quarterback he was last season, despite being the first second-year starting quarterback in head coach Gus Malzahn's career as either a college head coach or assistant.
Malzahn commented on Marshall's night in the postgame press conference, according to Ryan Black of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.
Make no mistake, despite the inefficiency, Marshall is still the man for Malzahn.
He rushed for 103 yards and a touchdown against the Spartans and is still what makes Auburn's offense tick.
Sure, Auburn would like Marshall to be more consistent through the air. Offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said this spring that he would like Marshall to complete "between 65 and 70 percent" of his passes on the season, according to Brandon Marcello of AL.com.
"It’s a goal. It should be a goal," Marshall told Marcello. "The expectations for us are high this year. I’m just going to do what they tell me and complete the passes like they want me to. I’ll go through all my progressions and not turn the ball over."
He isn't quite there on the season yet—he's at 56 percent (14-of-25) after two games—but Marshall routinely makes the right decision on zone reads, forces defenders to maintain eye discipline and takes advantage through the air when safeties creep up and peek in the backfield.
What more does he need to do?
Sure, the coaching staff would like him to progress as a passer, and if Marshall wants to make a career as a quarterback at the next level, it'd probably be a good idea. For this particular team, though, Marshall can follow the same script as last year and win a whole bunch of ballgames for Malzahn.
Isn't that the goal?
The offensive line has shown no signs of a letdown after losing first-round draft pick Greg Robinson at left tackle and left guard Alex Kozan to a season-ending injury. The running game is in good hands with Marshall, Cameron Artis-Payne—who's gone over the century mark in both of Auburn's games—and speedster Corey Grant.
Sure, Auburn is one-dimensional by choice and necessity with Marshall in the game, but that one dimension clicks at an elite level, so there's no reason to mess with success.
"Marshall 2.0" would be a luxury for the Auburn coaching staff, but the original version isn't too shabby and has proven during his career as the starting quarterback that what he does works, even if it doesn't always look pretty through the air.
Isn't that the point?
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and video analyst for Bleacher Report and co-host of the CFB Hangover on Bleacher Report Radio (Sundays 9-11 a.m. ET) on Sirius 93, XM 208. Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of CFBStats.com, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports.
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