Auburn Football: Offense Will Play at a High Level Under QB Barrett Trotter

The Auburn football program has a big rebuilding job ahead of them in 2011. The team that won the National Championship last season will be missing their two top players, defensive tackle Nick Fairley and quarterback Cam Newton.

The expectations are low coming into this season, but the offense, led by first-year starter Barrett Trotter, will still be the offense that Auburn fans got used to last season.

Barrett Trotter is no Cam Newton, but he's no slouch either. He battled Newton for the starting job before last season and that race was a dead heat until late in the process.

Now that he will be running the show, he won't disappoint.

At 6'2" and just over 200 pounds, Trotter has the body to stand up to the pounding of an SEC season and being his fourth year in the program, he should have a certain comfort level at this point.

To his credit, Trotter seems ready for the challenge. Chris Low of ESPN.com passed along the following quote from Trotter about the chance he has this season:

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“It’s been a long ride to get to this point. But at the same time, it’s definitely shaped me and molded me to be the quarterback I have to be for this team,” said Trotter, a fourth-year junior. “I think it’s been for the best in every situation, and looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing."

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The biggest thing Trotter has working for him is Guz Malzahn as his offensive coordinator. Newton was an incredible athlete, but Malzahn also worked some magic with him. The hope is that he will have some magic left over for Trotter.

Trotter also isn't alone on the offensive side of the ball. Running back Michael Dyer returns after a good performance in the National Championship game and Emory Blake will give him a solid receiving target.

Auburn won't be making plans for the SEC Championship Game this season, but they will continue to build a solid foundation to make their program perennial contenders.

That foundation is led by Malzahn, who will have another quarterback success story in 2011 in the person of Trotter.