Scrimmage struggles delay Auburn's quarterback decision

In as dead-heat a quarterback battle as the one brewing under the Auburn sun between the golden-armed legacy in Bo Nix and the physically daunting athlete in Joey Gatewood, each practice is obviously crucial for the coaching staff’s evaluations. But a scrimmage looms that much larger as an opportunity for the contenders to strut their stuff in as real an in-game environment as possible.

At least, that’s how Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn advertised the team’s first fall scrimmage. In the fall camp days leading up to it, Malzahn — who alleges he wants to name the starting QB “sooner rather than later” — said he'd treat Thursday’s 11-on-11 in Jordan-Hare Stadium as the first major opportunity to look for separation between the quarterbacks.

He’ll have to wait until Wednesday for any sort of breakthrough by Nix or Gatewood, because Auburn’s defense crushed the offense in Thursday’s 84-play scrimmage — and the young guns under center struggled.

“Oh, 100 percent. Yeah,” Malzahn said when asked if he’ll need at least one more scrimmage before feeling like a starter is emerging. “They’re going to need as many reps as they can get back there.”

The defense “dominated,” forcing at least three turnovers and restricting the offense enough to where the coaches couldn't gather as much information as they had planned because the starters were limited to so few first downs.

“We’ve got to be better,” Malzahn said. “Offensively, we have to be better, really, as a whole. That’s really what stood out to me. Not just one group. We just — they didn’t move the ball very well.”

Sources told AuburnSports.com that Nix threw two interceptions — a pick six by cornerback Javaris Davis off a dropped pass by a receiver and a spectacular defensive play by safety Smoke Monday. There was a fumble, Malzahn admitted, stripped by a defensive back after a catch was made by a receiver.

Auburn kept things simple for the most part, asking the freshman quarterbacks to run the “base offense.” But toward the end of the scrimmage, Malzahn and offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham decided to throw more at the offense — like they have all camp with ramped-up installation of the playbook — and call plays they know they’re going to utilize Week 1 against Oregon. The response wasn’t what the coaches were looking for.

“There was some good and there was some bad,” Malzahn said of the quarterbacks’ performances. “But the thing about it was, there were some good teaching things. Like I told them, I mean, the whole key is, you look at film, you look at the corrections, and then you come back and the next time, you improve. If you don’t improve, that’s when things get concerning.”

Malzahn said that in his experience, the quarterbacks who severely struggle in a scrimmage “figure it out” and usually don’t have a repeat performance. If they don’t respond positively, they’re not “the guys who can do it.”

“That first one, it kind of takes a bit to get the same guys in the same positions so the quarterback and receivers are on the same page,” Malzahn said.

The offense wasn’t entirely stagnant, however. All three quarterbacks — Nix, Gatewood and Cord Sandberg — were given equal reps, around 28 snaps apiece. Receivers Matthew Hill and Shedrick Jackson both hauled in touchdown receptions, while Harold Joiner, who received “quite a few snaps” at running back during the scrimmage, broke away from the defense for a long score. Only Hill’s touchdown came against first-team defenders, though. Players who spoke to the media didn’t disclose who threw the touchdowns.

Senior receivers Will Hastings and Eli Stove, both of whom are still being cautious with knee injuries, were limited. Sophomore slot receiver Anthony Schwartz remained absent with a hand injury.

Auburn already knows what it has with that trio. The scrimmage was focused primarily on freshmen and transfers getting more acclimated with their playbook. Still, the offense couldn’t find much footing regardless of who it lined up across from Kevin Steele’s defense.

"There were some bad plays on our part, the receivers, the quarterbacks, running backs,” senior right tackle Jack Driscoll said. "Credit to the [first-team] defense, they played great today, they shut everything down and it felt like they were all over the field."

Driscoll did say that while the two QBs took their lumps against one of the deeper and more talented defenses in the nation, Nix and Gatewood kept their heads high all morning, even encouraging other struggling Tigers.

“The first scrimmage is always hard,” Driscoll said. “Both Bo and Joey are really smart guys. … When things weren't going well, they were the first one picking guys up, saying, 'Hey, we'll get it next time.' It's not all gonna be sunshines and rainbows, we're gonna run into a rough patch, we might get down in a game, and those guys, being the quarterback and the leader, they gotta be able to pick guys up, and say, 'We're in it.'

“And that's what I was impressed with today — their leadership.”

Auburn returns to Jordan-Hare Stadium on Wednesday for its next scrimmage.