Once upon a time, Saturday’s Arkansas-Auburn football game at Jordan-Hare Stadium was all about Razorbacks quarterback Ryan Mallett.
Then along came Cam.
Mallett and his rifle arm are being overshadowed this week because of the continuing amazement provided by Auburn counterpart Cameron Newton. Through his first six games as a Southeastern Conference starter, Newton leads the league in rushing (112 yards a game) and pass efficiency (180.7 rating).
“A wise man once told me that if you’re not having fun doing it, what is the worth of doing it?” Newton said Tuesday. “I really enjoy this game, and I’m a blessed individual to have all my limbs and to be able to play football. I thank God for that every day.”
The 6-foot-6, 250-pound junior from the Atlanta suburb of College Park is the clear-cut choice for SEC player of the year at the midway mark, having guided Auburn to its first 6-0 start since the 2004, when the Tigers wound up 13-0. Auburn is ranked No. 7 and hopes to end a two-game losing streak to the No. 12 Razorbacks.
Mallett leads the league and ranks second nationally with 349.6 passing yards a game, but Newton is special for his dual ability. He is the first quarterback in Auburn history to throw for two touchdowns in each of his first five games, a stat he spoiled last week with four rushing scores in the 37-34 win at Kentucky, and his 94-yard touchdown strike to Emory Blake against Louisiana-Monroe on Oct. 2 set a program record for distance.
“He’s a very gifted athlete,” Auburn coach Gene Chizik said. “Physically, he can definitely run the football, but at the quarterback spot you know you have to be able to throw it. He’s got a nice release on the ball and makes good decisions most of the time.”
Newton signed with Florida out of Westlake High School, playing in five games for the Gators in 2007 and redshirting in ’08. He quarterbacked Blinn (Texas) College to the junior college national championship last season, throwing for 22 touchdowns and rushing for 16, and was named the No. 1 juco prospect by Rivals.com.
His Auburn debut consisted of 186 passing yards, 171 rushing yards and five total touchdowns as the Tigers doubled Arkansas State 52-26, and the admirers have grown each week.
“Cam’s size and athleticism when he walks in the door just wows you,” said Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen, who was Newton’s offensive coordinator at Florida. “He can throw the ball probably 80 yards in the air, but most of all he’s a very intelligent quarterback. I’ve only watched him play against us so far this season, and I thought he did a nice job of managing his play.”
Said Kentucky coach Joker Phillips: “He kind of reminds you a little bit of the kid at Ohio State [Terrelle Pryor]. He runs the ball downhill a little more than the kid at Ohio State, but he’s similar in build and speed, and they both make really good decisions in the passing game.”
Newton had 176 rushing yards on Sept. 25, when the Tigers defeated South Carolina 35-27, and he had 198 last week in Lexington. Auburn coaches did not call a single running play for Newton against ULM, as his one carry for minus-11 yards was a sack.
“We’re going to do what we have to do to win,” Chizik said. “Sometimes that could require that he runs the ball more than not. Sometimes he doesn’t. A lot of that is predicated on what the defenses are doing. There are a lot of variables that go into how much we would run our quarterback, because I think there is a fine line.
“You want to keep your quarterback for all 12 games, so we’re very prudent about how we proceed, but at the end of the day we have to do what it takes to win.”
Newton has rushed 104 times for 672 yards (6.5 yards per carry) and nine touchdowns, but the Tigers aren’t hurting when their running backs get their turn in Gus Malzahn’s offense. Freshman Michael Dyer has 390 rushing yards and averages 5 yards a carry, sophomore Onterrio McCalebb has 345 yards and averages 7.3 yards a carry, and senior Mario Fannin has 164 yards and averages 6.1 yards a rush.
“We have excellent coaches on our staff who dissect an opponent’s defense and let us know what is available for us to be successful in a game,” Newton said. “It makes it easy on a player to know that all we have to do is execute whatever is given to us to execute.”