Malzahn not worried QB charade affecting Jeremy Johnson

AUBURN –Gus Malzahn is not concerned his refusal to acknowledge the obvious – Jeremy Johnson will be Auburn's starting quarterback against Arkansas in less than nine days – is affecting his sophomore signal caller's psyche as he heads into the biggest game of his life.

The Auburn coach remains steadfast that Nick Marshall will not start as he serves a punishment for his July citation for possession of marijuana.

Yet Malzahn still refuses to name Johnson the starter, as if there is even a remote possibility of an alternative, and has no fear of any potential affects the lack of public backing might have on the sophomore's thought process.

"If I worried about anything about that, we'd have already done it, but we don't worry at all," Malzahn said Thursday. "We'll have a good plan. Our guys will respond well. We know our guys pretty well."

Malzahn could not, or would not, recall who was the first quarterback on the field at Thursday's practice.

"That's a good question," he said. "I couldn't tell you, they (Marshall and Johnson) both got reps with the ones."

Malzahn and offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee have both praised Marshall's approach in practice this month, and Johnson's abilities.

Yet Auburn is already three days into game preparations and Malzahn presents a laughable charade, in which there hasn't been any plan as to how Marshall, the returning starter and Heisman Trophy candidate, and Johnson are splitting reps now or will continue to over the next week.

"We'll have a plan," Malzahn said. "Me and Rhett will get together this weekend, and we'll go from there."

Only two other SEC teams – Alabama and LSU – have yet name a starting quarterback for their opening games, and both have legitimate competitions. Vanderbilt named its starter Thursday night.

Auburn has not viable option to Johnson, who to his credit, said he'll be ready "if" he's called upon. His only start came against lowly Western Carolina, with three quarters of action against Florida Atlantic last season being his most relevant game experience to date.

If Malzahn sits Marshall, as he has vowed to do, third-string QB Sean White, a true freshman who coaches would prefer to redshirt than play, will not start and neither will Jonathan Wallace, who may not take a meaningful snap in the remaining two seasons of his college career.