Winners and Losers of the Auburn Spring Football Game

The Auburn Tigers held their annual A-Day game at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday, two days before the official close of spring practice.

Gene Chizik's Tigers are coming off of an 8-5 season that saw a lot of young players see the field. While many of those players are back in 2012, there were still only 15 seniors listed on the A-Day roster.

There were impressions to be made on the Plains on Saturday. Who were the winners and losers from Auburn's A-Day? We take a look in this slideshow.

Winner: Quarterback Kiehl Frazier

Frazier has been the recipient of an enormous amount of spring buzz for his play under new offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler. He didn't disappoint on Saturday.

Frazier completed seven of nine passes for 92 yards, working with the first-team offense against the first-team defense. He also added five carries for 21 yards. That rushing total is actually much lower than it would have been in a real game, because on two of his carries he was whistled down after the defender touched him in situations in which one move probably would have earned him at least five more yards. In one of those cases, he probably could have taken it up the middle for a 70-yard touchdown.

Chizik said after the game that he "wasn't ready to pull the trigger" on naming a starting quarterback, but from the looks of it, Frazier tops the depth chart as Auburn's signal-caller right now.

Winner: Defensive End LaDarius Owens

With defensive linemen Nosa Eguae, Gabe Wright and Ken Carter all out this spring due to injuries, younger players on the Auburn roster were given the chance to make an impression. LaDarius Owens did just that. 

Owens finished the day with two sacks for a loss of 22 yards and a total of four tackles. Along with the game's defensive MVP—fellow defensive end Dee Ford—Owens made his presence felt in the backfield against the first-team offense for the majority of the first half.

Loser: Auburn's Offensive Line

Auburn's first-team offensive line allowed four sacks on the afternoon, two each on quarterbacks Kiehl Frazier and Clint Moseley. On top of the sacks, there were also several plays where the quarterback never got settled in the pocket and was forced to slide away from pressure.

It wasn't all bad for the offensive line. It did allow Frazier and Moseley to both complete some deep outs and crossing patterns, but the consistency wasn't there. 

That's typically something that comes with time.

Winner: Running Back Mike Blakely

Mike Blakely entered the game as one of several Tigers who are vying for carries in 2012. Starter Onterio McCalebb and backup Tre Mason saw minimal playing time on Saturday, which opened the door for someone else to make an impact.

Redshirt freshman Mike Blakely did just that.

Blakely rushed for 65 yards on five carries, which included a 22-yard touchdown run where he disappeared in the pile, and then popped out the side and scampered to the pylon for the touchdown.

Head coach Gene Chizik downplayed Blakely's afternoon in the postgame press conference.

"I wouldn't read too much into the stats," said Chizik. "He [Blakely] had a good day, but he's been very inconsistent this spring."

Blakely made an impact when the spring spotlight was on, and that has to count for something.

Loser: Quarterback Clint Moseley

Clint Moseley wasn't bad on Saturday, and Auburn head coach Gene Chizik will tell you that the quarterback race is still ongoing, but it was clear on Saturday that Frazier has a leg up on Moseley in the competition.

Moseley—the returning starter for the Tigers—actually had a nice afternoon, completing five of six passes for 62 yards. Despite the nice day statistically, he didn't gain any ground on his competition.

Moseley missed part of spring practice with a sore arm, and while he was on the sideline, Frazier was receiving rave reviews from everybody that saw him at practice. 

Moseley didn't gain any ground on Frazier on Saturday, and from the looks of it, Frazier is poised to take the top spot and run with it.