Blake Anderson and Gus Malzahn rose to their positions thanks to their offense. But they will meet tonight on the grass at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., searching for answers on that side of the ball.
Auburn lost its season opener to No. 2 Clemson last week when Malzahn alternated three different quarterbacks. ASU lost to Toledo when an offense led by a quarterback who arrived on campus in June sputtered to 226 total yards.
Today’s game
ARKANSAS STATE AT AUBURN
WHEN 6:30 p.m. Central
WHERE Jordan-Hare Stadium
LINE Auburn by 20½
COACHES Blake Anderson (16-11 in third season at Arkansas State and overall); Gus Malzahn (27-14 in fourth season at Auburn, 36-17 in fifth season overall)
SERIES Auburn leads 3-0
TV SEC Network
RADIO KASR-FM, 92.7, in Little Rock/Conway; KFIN-FM, 107.9, in Jonesboro
INTERNET ESPN3.com
The coaches, who have won conference titles and set school records by running their own versions of Spread systems, are trying to find their offensive identities. It happens at times, Malzahn said, depending on personnel, experience and a fit with coaches.
"Some years, you have more information and you kind of know what to expect," Malzahn said this week. "Other years, you have less experience and it takes a bit longer."
Auburn was held to 262 yards last week when Malzahn tried to fool Clemson with three different quarterbacks. Steady thrower Sean White started, but more mobile quarterbacks John Franklin and Jeremy Johnson also played, sometimes going into the game in the middle of a series.
"It's unlike anything I've ever seen before," Anderson said. "But that's kind of Gus."
Malzahn said earlier this week he's backing off that plan. White will start, and Franklin will get second-team snaps.
Anderson has his own quarterback issues. Senior Chad Voytik, who transferred form Pittsburgh in the summer, and sophomore Justice Hansen were so close during camp that coaches vowed to play both in games. Voytik played all but one series -- Hansen got three plays -- but never found a rhythm in the 31-10 loss last week.
Voytik completed 11 of 24 passes for 124 yards, 83 of which came on one play. Anderson said neither Voytik nor Hansen "played real well," but he revealed little else about the quarterback plans for tonight. Voytik will start again, but Hansen will get an "opportunity at some point."
Anderson said he's not surprised both teams are having quarterback issues, even after a month of fall camp and a week of games. He said plenty of teams in college football are facing similar issues, notably Texas and Notre Dame.
A trend of more lax fall camps could be an explanation, Anderson said. ASU held one full-contact scrimmage and not once were his quarterbacks live. With two new players fighting for the spot, it left unanswered questions heading into the opener.
"None of us are able to truly go out and put a guy in a position where he's got bodies in the pocket," Anderson said. "It's got everybody making decisions later than we'd like, because you don't have the ability to go out and let a defensive pass rush go."
Now that coaches have a week of film to review, more firm decisions have followed. Malzahn has scrapped his three-quarterback plan, and ASU offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner sounded as if he was leaning toward giving the reins to Voytik.
"We have the utmost confidence in Chad," Faulkner said. "Just his experience. He's got to clean things up just like the rest of the offense, but he showed enough things to believe he can be a really, really good player."
Voytik, who started for the first time since the 2014 season, said his biggest gripe from last week was missed opportunities. He expects to feel more comfortable as he makes his second start for the Red Wolves.
"It was good to get back in the season and feel that game speed, so I think that will help me," he said.
Malzahn said the plan last week was to give Clemson "a lot to think about." But now the Tigers will try to establish an identity behind White, who completed 9 of 19 passes for 136 yards in the second half, and running back Kerryon Johnson, who gained 94 yards rushing.
"Each team is new," Malzahn said. "You put [the negatives] in your rear-view mirror and you move forward."
The task for Anderson's team, an almost three touchdown underdog, is the same. But Anderson had complaints in addition to quarterback play. ASU's receivers didn't get as many touches as he preferred, and some plays were derailed by mistakes before the snap.
Good quarterback play will help, but good play around the quarterback can help even more.
"We've got to clean up the details," Anderson said. "Back to fundamentals. Details. Execution. Give ourselves a chance to compete in football games."
Sports on 09/10/2016