Malzahn: Jeremy Johnson's play 'confirmed what we knew'

AUBURN – Jeremy Johnson having the best performance of his budding career did not catch Auburn's coaches by surprise.

The former G.W. Carver star went 12-for-16 for 243 yards with two touchdowns all in the first half of Auburn's 45-21 win over Arkansas. Johnson became the first Auburn quarterback to throw for more than 200 yards in a half since Cam Newton threw for 281 yards in the first half of the 2010 SEC Championship game.

"That confirmed what we knew about Jeremy," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "We've been saying for a long time that he's a very talented quarterback. It was good to see him go out there and perform like that and we were very impressed as a coaching staff. We said he'd have a role even before that game and he will. Each week it could possibly be a little different."

Johnson completed his first eight passes to six different receivers, showing poise in the pocket and encountered only one hurry while helping lead the Tigers to three straight touchdown drives to open the game.

"He didn't have any busts, I thought," offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said. "He had one or two throws that maybe could have been delivered better. The receivers bailed him out on a couple. He played really well. … Overall, really proud of him. He had a great game mentally, he threw the ball really, really well and he honestly played like I expected him to."

Johnson's start Saturday was his first against an SEC opponent and the biggest game of his career.

"After I completed the first pass, all the jitters went away," he said.

Whatever uneasiness Johnson felt initially didn't affect him whatsoever.

"He didn't play like a guy that was nervous, he was anxious, he was excited," Lashlee said. "I was more worried about him being overexcited than nervous. He just played like a kid out there having a blast. I was really proud of the way he responded. He gave our team a lift."

Malzahn and Lashlee have reiterated the obvious, that Nick Marshall is the starter and Johnson is the backup with "a role" in the game plan. Johnson's on board with being The Future while Marshall, who Johnson is convinced will win the Heisman Trophy this season, starts the rest of this season.

Marshall, who has not been available for interviews since apologizing for his July marijuana citation, which he called a "mistake," on Aug. 10, went 4-for-6 for 50 yards and added 19 yards rushing and a touchdown after stepping in for Johnson in the second half.

How Johnson's role will change each week is unclear, though Lashlee said how he played Saturday did not impact how the coaching staff is considering its options.

"We knew what he was capable of and I think people that saw him play last year felt like he could do a good job," Lashlee said. "He did fantastic. Nick's our starter. Jeremy will have a role. More than anything I think our team, Jeremy, us … everybody just has a lot of confidence that if something happens we can put Jeremy in and not miss a beat.

"It's a really good luxury for us right now to have two guys that we have that much confidence in."