Willis makes strides at QB

AUBURN | Even though the A-Day stats didn’t show it, Malik Willis feels like he became a better quarterback this spring.

With returning starter Jarrett Stidham limited with a shoulder injury, Willis spent the entire spring running the first-team offense.

“Definitely, especially going against our defense every day,” said Willis of his improvement. “It just helps you get better, sharper, make quick decisions, get the ball out.”

Willis completed just 8-of-20 passes for 45 yards in Saturday’s spring game. He had at least two dropped passes and several overthrows to open receivers that would have resulted in big gains. He also fumbled an exchange with a running back.

“I think he missed a couple kind of over the top. There was two that I know he'd like to have back that if we had hit those, he'd have been feeling better,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “The fumble is really what stands out to me. We've just got to protect the football. Overall, I think he's had a solid spring. But he'd like to probably have those two back that he kind of overthrew.”

Stidham, who served as a de-facto coach during much of the spring, saw plenty of reasons to be bullish on the sophomore’s future.

“I was super proud of Malik all spring,” Stidham said. “He obviously was thrown in there with the ones, and he handled it like he should have. It was nice to see him improve week to week. He took command of the offense and really led those guys. It was really positive to see.”

The quarterbacks weren’t live during the A-Day game, which stifled Willis’ running options. He showed his explosive ability last fall with a 67-yard touchdown run against Mississippi State and a 62-yard run against ULM.

But Willis bristles at being labeled as just an option quarterback.

“You can think what you want. I don’t let it affect me because people don’t know what’s going on, for real,” he said. “People are not in our locker room, in our practices. It’s whatever. I don’t really get into that.”

Auburn wrapped up spring practice Tuesday afternoon.