ATLANTA | Kam Martin never hung his head, never seriously contemplated transferring and always opted to be a positive teammate.

He bided his time for two years as Kerryon Johnson and Kamryn Pettway churned out the yards and touchdowns. But the wait finally ended Saturday with Martin earning his first career start for No. 9 Auburn against No. 6 Washington.

“It means a lot because I played behind two good running backs — Kerryon, Pettway — they’re two good running backs. I knew my time was coming,” Martin said. “The thing about life is you just have to be patient. You just have to be patient on some things. I knew my time was coming. I was just praying to God to give me the strength, knowledge and power.”

Martin showed off his versatility against the Huskies leading the Tigers with 112 all-purpose yards. He led all running backs with 80 yards on 22 carries and also caught a career-high five passes for 32 yards.

Most importantly, he helped Auburn to a 21-16 opening win.

“I feel like I did good. I’m going to go back and watch the film and I’m pretty sure I’m going to have some errors on some things, but I feel like I had a solid game,” Martin said.

Three other running backs plus quarterback Jarrett Stidham and wide receiver Ryan Davis combined for 23 carries. Chandler Cox and JaTarvious Whitlow were also involved in the passing game with Cox catching a career-high four passes.

Spreading the ball around to more players, especially at the running back position, and not relying on one workhorse to carry the offense was one of the goals of the coaching staff this season.

And it seemed to work well in this season’s debut.

“I felt like today we used a lot of running backs and throughout the year we’re going to do that to keep everybody healthy,” Martin said.