Jeremy Johnson named Auburn's starting quarterback

Auburn has named Jeremy Johnson its quarterback of the future.

Johnson, a junior who was the favorite all spring, solidified his starting role with a fantastic first-half performance during Auburn’s annual A-Day game last Saturday.

Johnson led Team Auburn, which was made up of all first-team players, on four scoring drives. He completed 14 of 22 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns in front of an announced crowd of 62,143 at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Johnson’s first touchdown passes came on a 36-yard strike to D’haquille Williams in the right corner of the end zone early in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Johnson found Ricardo Lewis on a 49-yard pass and then Williams for the score.

However, not everything was perfect. Johnson did have a stretch where he threw five incompletions in a six-pass span before ultimately finding Lewis.

"I didn't perform to my best that I thought I should have performed but I did OK," Johnson said. "It was really about giving our receivers a chance and let them make plays down the field … (The incompletions are) the plays that we got to make if we want to be successful this season."

Johnson is already drawing comparisons to Auburn’s former Heisman winner Cam Newton. The two players are similar in physique and throw a similarly strong ball. Auburn can only hope those comparisons are accurate in the fall.

“He’s got a lot of experience,” Malzahn told the SEC Network during the game telecast. “Even though he’s been the backup, he has as much experience as anyone with practice and game snaps. I thought he did a good job today and we have high expectations for him.”

For more Auburn news, visit AuburnSports.com.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday

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