Auburn football coach Gus Malzahn named Jarrett Stidham on Monday as the starting quarterback for the Tigers.
Stidham is a transfer from Baylor University who attended McLennan Junior College in Texas last year and signed with Auburn in December. The 6-foot-3, 214-pound redshirt sophomore from Stephenville, Texas, beat out returning starter Sean White and freshman Malik Willis.
"Jarrett has earned it," Malzahn said in a news conference. "He has performed very well the last two weeks. He performed very well in the spring, too, but we wanted to give Sean White a real chance to compete, and Sean competed very well. I think Sean is improved from last year, but after two scrimmages, after a lot of different 11-on-11 situations and a lot of 7-on-7 situations, I got with Chip (Lindsey, the offensive coordinator), and we felt like the time was right."
Auburn opens its season Sept. 2 against Georgia Southern inside Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Stidham completed 75 of 109 passes (68.8 percent) for 1,265 yards with 12 touchdowns and two interceptions two years ago as a Baylor freshman. In Auburn's A-Day spring game this year, he completed 16 of 20 passes for 267 yards in the first half alone and earned MVP honors.
When speaking to reporters in the spring, Stidham said, "I am trying to step up and be a leader as fast as possible. Gaining the trust of the guys on the team comes with time, but it's doing the little things that I think will hopefully stand out."
White, a 6-foot, 211-pound redshirt junior from Boca Raton, Fla., completed 133 of 208 attempts (63.9 percent) last season for 1,679 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions. He led the Southeastern Conference in efficiency until suffering an injury to his throwing shoulder in a late-October win at Ole Miss, which rendered him either ineffective or sidelined for the remainder of the season.
Auburn played in the Sugar Bowl against Oklahoma, but White suffered a broken forearm early in the game and was replaced in the second quarter with the Tigers leading 10-7. The Sooners rolled from there, winning 35-19.
White reacted to Malzahn's decision on Twitter, posting, "All in!! War Eagle."
The Tigers have experienced recent success with transfer quarterbacks. Cam Newton began his career at Florida before guiding Auburn to the 2010 national title, and Nick Marshall was a former Georgia cornerback who quarterbacked the Tigers to the 2013 SEC title and a berth in the final BCS championship game against Florida State.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.