SPORTS

Jeremy Johnson, first-team offense score four times on A-Day

James Crepea
Montgomery Advertiser

Auburn quarterback Jeremy Johnson (6) throws a touchdown pass during the Auburn A-Day spring game on Saturday, April 18, 2015, at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala.

AUBURN – The objective for Jeremy Johnson was to command the Auburn offense and find the end zone with regularity.

The Future is developing very well in the present for the Tigers.

Johnson led the first-teamers on Team Auburn past the backups on Team Tigers, 24-14, before an announced crowd of 62,143 at Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday afternoon.

The Montgomery native led the starting offense on four scoring drives during the first half of the annual spring game, going 14 for 22 for 252 yards with two touchdowns.

"He has really good command of our offense," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "He probably held the ball a little too long a couple of throws, but, overall, I thought he did a good job."

Johnson connected with D'haquille Williams for a 36-yard score in the right corner of the end zone with 10:24 to go in the first half to make it 17-0.

The 6-foot-5 230 pound Johnson, who had four completions of 25-plus yards, later found Myron Burton for a 43-yard touchdown.

It wasn't all smooth sailing for Johnson though, as he had a rough patch late in the first quarter and into the second, with five incompletions, all intended for Williams, over six throws before hitting Ricardo Louis on a 49-yard bomb and then finding Williams for a touchdown.

"I didn't perform to my best that I thought I should have performed but I did OK," Johnson said. "It was really about giving our receivers a chance and let them make plays down the field … (The incompletions are) the plays that we got to make if we want to be successful this season."

Though he was not live, Johnson helped pave the way for Roc Thomas to score a 36-yard burst down the right sideline on the opening drive of the day.

Thomas had a combined seven carries for 69 yards and two touchdowns, scoring for each squad during the first half, and had a 12-yard reception.

"I think my O-line blocked pretty well up front and I think the receivers blocked out on the edge very well," Thomas said. "It was just trying to be patient more and trying to do what they want me to do."

Burton, a redshirt-freshman, had seven receptions for 124 yards and the one score and was named the Offensive MVP. His 31-yard grab over the back of corner Michael Sherwood setup Thomas' three-yard score, which put Team Tigers on the board and made it 24-7 at halftime.

Safety Tray Matthews had five tackles, an interception in the end zone and forced a fumble to earn Defensive MVP honors.

Though he supposedly split first-team reps with Johnson all spring, Sean White worked exclusively with the second-teamers on A-Day.

The redshirt-freshman went 15 for 19 for 109 yards but was "sacked" three times and led only one scoring drive on six possessions.

"We were up against the first-team defense and we were just trying to take what they gave us," White said. "I wish we could have stretched the field a little bit more but it didn't end up working out that way. … I wish we could have had more scoring drives."

With the one remaining spring practice focused on corrections Auburn will spend the offseason focusing on individual improvements in order to make all aspects of the team more efficient in the fall.

"As long as we make plays down the field vertically," Johnson said, "We are going to be very successful."