The Tigers scrimmaged for the first time this spring, running approximately 120 plays at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The scrimmage, which was closed to the media and the public, was Auburn’s seventh practice of the 15 allowed in the spring.
“We tell them after every scrimmage, each position we try to evaluate to give them some kind of rank,” Malzahn said. “Especially right now. We’re trying to figure out our top 11. It’s going to be a little harder for the quarterbacks. They both know the offense so well. And they’re both fairly close going into this scrimmage. So hopefully we’ll learn a little bit more. But it’s going to be hard to distinguish one from the other I believe after this scrimmage.”
Auburn coach Gene Chizik said he was pleased with both quarterbacks.
“You want to see how they manage the offense, obviously, and protect the football,” Chizik said. “That’s the main thing. We had some quarterback-center exchanges today that were definitely in need of improvement. There’s no question about that. I think our quarterbacks did a nice job for the most part of protecting the ball. Managing the offense, just getting everybody set, making sure everybody is aligned, still trying to keep a good pace, are obviously our objectives.”
Malzahn said the playing time was divided evenly.
“We gave them equal reps with our orange group (first team) and our blue group (second team),” Malzahn said. “I guess it was 100-120 plays. When you’re playing so many in-experienced guys, it’s hard to evaluate the quarterback today after we get through, because there are so many things that go on. With the orange group, with the main group, that’s where they’ll be evaluated most. And I’m really going to have to watch film to get a grip on it. There were some good things that happened that I remember, some good throws. I’ll have to see the protections, see if there were any breakdowns and how they responded. They protected the football fairly well for the first scrimmage. Both of them had a good attitude and competed.”
No statistics were released from the scrimmage, but Moseley said he threw touchdown passes to tight end Phillip Lutzenkirchen and wide receiver Quindarius Carr.
Neither quarterback remembered an interception, but safety Neiko Thorpe said there were two, one by junior cornerback T’Sharven Bell and another by freshman corner Jonathan Rose.
Both picks were apparently off Moseley. Bell also had a fumble recovery.
Despite possible lapses in memory, both quarterbacks said they competed well.
“Today was the first time I really felt I was playing football instead of trying to remember everything,” Moseley said. “Today I was actually competing. It was a lot of fun. It was different than any mindset that I had. It was very good to get out there and compete like that.”
Trotter, who was Cam Newton’s backup last season, also was encouraged by his play.
“I feel really comfortable with everything we’re doing,” he said. “There’s really not much. I don’t really feel like it’s new material for me; it’s just kind of re-learning and getting a foundation back again. It’s not so much learning anymore; it’s just getting the ball where I want it every time.”
