Auburn quarterback Joey Gatewood has entered the NCAA transfer portal after deciding to continue his career elsewhere, coach Gus Malzahn announced Wednesday.
Gatewood, a redshirt freshman, has been the backup to true freshman Bo Nix this season for the No. 11 Tigers, who are 6-2 overall and 3-2 in Southeastern Conference play entering Saturday's home game against Ole Miss (3-5, 2-3).
"I really appreciate Joey," Malzahn said. "When he didn't win the job earlier, he chose to stick around. Most quarterbacks this day and time would have quit, and he didn't do that. He's just at a point now where he feels like he wants to be a starting quarterback and that he needs to start looking for schools now and find the right spot, and I respect that.
"He's a fine young man, and I really appreciate everything Joey has done for our program. Everybody in our program will be rooting for him moving forward."
Malzahn said Gatewood approached him before Tuesday's practice and that they talked about his situation.
Gatewood, a 6-foot-5, 233-pounder from Jacksonville, Florida, played in seven games this season, completing five of seven passes for 54 yards and two touchdowns and rushing 29 times for 148 yards (5.1 per carry) and three scores. He rushed 12 times for 102 yards and two touchdowns in a 55-16 blasting of Kent State on Sept. 14, and he threw a 6-yard touchdown pass early in the first quarter the following week during the 28-20 triumph at Texas A&M.
Backing up Nix now will be Cord Sandberg, a 6-3, 229-pound redshirt freshman from Bradenton, Florida. Sandberg has played in one game each of his two seasons with the Tigers.
"Cord has been here for two years," Malzahn said. "He's 24 years old and played professional baseball for five years, so he's been with us and understands what we're doing."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.