Auburn Spring Game 2015: Recap, Highlights and Twitter Reaction

Auburn football's drive to the 2015 regular season kicked off in exciting fashion Saturday as Team Auburn defeated Team Tigers 24-14 in the A-Day spring game at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama.

Several players stood out, but junior quarterback Jeremy Johnson likely has Tigers fans talking more than anyone else does after making a strong case for the starting job.

As seen in this photo, courtesy of the Auburn Tigers' official Twitter account, there was no shortage of excitement and pageantry surrounding Saturday's exhibition contest:

The fun atmosphere seemed to play into Team Auburn's favor out of the gates, as sophomore running back Roc Thomas put the team ahead 7-0 on a 36-yard touchdown run early in the first quarter.

According to Justin Ferguson of Sporting News, Thomas flashed a wide array of skills to rack up the first points of the game:

The Team Auburn lead was soon pushed to 10-0 when sophomore kicker Daniel Carlson successfully booted a 50-yard field goal through the uprights.

Per Bryan Matthews of Rivals.com, Thomas was undoubtedly the standout player of the opening quarter, as he averaged better than 15 yards per carry:

While Thomas was the story of the first quarter, most Auburn fans entered Saturday's game hoping to see some progress from the quarterback position. With Nick Marshall making the move to the NFL, the Tigers will have a new starter under center in 2015.

Johnson pulled ahead in the race for that job, as the big signal-caller made some fantastic plays in the second quarter. After connecting with senior wide receiver Ricardo Louis on a 49-yard pass, Johnson threw his first touchdown of the day to senior wideout Duke Williams on a 36-yard strike.

His second scoring pass came six minutes later as he hit freshman receiver Myron Burton Jr. from 43 yards out to give Team Auburn a commanding 24-0 advantage.

In addition to Johnson's excellent play, he certainly looked the part, as pointed out by Michael Pelfrey of WEGL 91.1 FM:

"

I don't think Jeremy Johnson could look more like an NFL quarterback if he tried. Perfect build

— Michael Pelfrey (@mcpelfrey) April 18, 2015"

The Auburn Athletics Twitter account provided a good example of Johnson's big-time arm with a video of his beautiful sideline pass to Chandler Cox:

After watching him throw for well over 200 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, Brian Stultz of 247Sports felt as though Johnson made a statement regarding his place on the depth chart:

It wasn't necessarily a runaway, though, as freshman Sean White acquitted himself well, too:

Team Tigers managed to get on the board prior to halftime to make it 24-7, and it was Thomas who found pay dirt once again as he shifted over to the other team.

Thomas finished the half with 69 yards and a pair of touchdowns as he and Johnson established themselves as potential linchpins in the Auburn offense for the 2015 campaign.

The second half of the spring game paled in comparison to the first half in terms of excitement, but a third quarterback emerged and showed off some impressive skills in addition to Johnson and White.

Freshman Tyler Queen threw a touchdown to fellow freshman Jimmie Stoudemire to pull Team Tigers to within 10 points of the lead.

AL.com's Cole Cubelic was complimentary of the young signal-caller:

While Auburn fans had to enjoy seeing Queen get some positive work in, the biggest takeaway from Saturday's game is the fact that Johnson looks capable of being a starting quarterback in the SEC.

He and Thomas offered a glimpse of what could potentially be a potent offense, which is necessary in such a difficult conference.

Carrying this level of play over from the spring to the regular season won't be easy for Auburn's offense, but the talent is clearly in place to do some special things on that side of the ball.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.