'The Future' bright: Johnson 'a stud' in 1st SEC start

AUBURN – The Future was on display again on the Plains, and once again, Jeremy Johnson wowed the Jordan-Hare stadium crowd with very impressive play in helping lead Auburn to victory on Saturday.

In the biggest game of his life, the former G.W. Carver star was stoic in the face of pressure, completing his first eight passes on his way to a 12-for-16 outing for 243 yards and two touchdowns, all in the first half of No. 6 Auburn's 45- 21 rout of Arkansas.

"My coaches put me in the right position and I got a whole bunch of good players around me that made me do what I did today," Johnson said. "I'm going to give all the praise and glory to my teammates."

Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said he was "very proud" of Johnson, who made the start in place of the suspended Nick Marshall, who came in after halftime.

"This the first time he ever said something to me, he said 'you're a stud,' " Johnson said after his career performance. "I took that for a good thing. That's the first time I got that from him."

Nothing seemed to faze Johnson, who helped lead three straight Auburn touchdown drives to open the game.

The former U.S. Army All-American was completing passes all over the field and never seemed to experience any trouble.

"He's been on the big stage before," said Ojedita Johnson, Jeremy's father, who along with his wife, LaTasha, and several other family members, watched the game unfold from near the 50-yard line.

Johnson made the right read on a play-action pass that led to a 49-yard touchdown by Melvin Ray to open the game. He connected on passes of 19 and 26 yards on the second scoring drive and connected with D'haquille Williams seven times for 138 yards, including a 62-yard strike late in the first quarter and again on an 18-yard score to cap the same drive.

"Coming in, making the passes that he's making, I wasn't surprised," running back Corey Grant said. "He does it all the time."

Coaches and teammates have been complimentary of Johnson all off-season, and once again he showed he's deserving of the praise.

"We said before that we feel like he could start for most teams in college football," Malzahn said. "I think everybody saw that tonight."