Willis brings different dimension to offense

AUBURN | When Sean White was dismissed Sept. 18, Auburn was left with just two scholarship quarterbacks. And one of those, true freshman Malik Willis, had never played a down of college football.

Fast forward six weeks later, Willis has played in four games and accounted for two touchdowns.

“Being able to give him those quality game reps and just to be able to run the offense, you can see he brings a different dimension on the read zone,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said.

Willis has played in four of Auburn’s last five games, blowout wins over Missouri, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Arkansas. He had a 67-yard touchdown run against the Bulldogs for his first career touchdown.

Willis added a 48-yard run against the Razorbacks, which set up his first career touchdown pass on a four-yard shovel to Devan Barrett.

On the season, Willis has completed 5-of-6 passes for eight yards and one touchdown, and rushed for 156 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. His 13.0 average yards per carry is second on the team.

“He’s getting better,” offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey said. “He’s obviously very talented. He’s getting a better grasp of the offense than he had early on and I think he’s more and more comfortable.

“We’ve been able to get him into some games because we’ve had the lead, which has been really nice, getting him some quality playing time. I think that’s going to pay off, maybe in this season, but for sure down the road.”

One of the more important attributes of any quarterback is how well he performs under pressure. Willis hasn’t been put in that situation this fall, but Lindsey likes how the youngster has handled running the team when he’s gotten the opportunity.

“He’s made some mistakes, but that’s part of it being a young player. I think he handles himself with a very good demeanor, he always has,” Lindsey said.

No. 16 Auburn plays at Texas A&M Saturday at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN.