What's next for Zach ?

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What's next for Zach Calzada after missing Auburn football starting quarterback job?

Bennett Durando, Montgomery Advertiser

Mon, August 29, 2022 at 5:47 PM

 

 

AUBURN — As T.J. Finley gets his well-earned moment in the spotlight, what's happening backstage is just important.

The result of Auburn football's preseason quarterback competition is a familiar face running the offense Saturday (6 p.m. CT, ESPN+) against Mercer. Meanwhile, there are two players relegated to backup roles after they transferred to Auburn this offseason to compete for the starting job.

What's the message to Zach Calzada and Robby Ashford?

"For all the guys that aren't in the starting role, keep your head up," Auburn coach Bryan Harsin said. "Because it changes so quickly."

 

Harsin said Finley and the other starters will get most of the attention now that the preseason competition is over and Auburn has progressed to game-week practice. "We haven't had a ton (of practices) where one guy is getting a majority of the reps," the coach said.

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When asked if Ashford will appear in the season opener, Harsin said, "We'll see when we get this game plan honed in for Mercer."

Harsin said the Oregon transfer "will get plenty of reps, plenty of opportunities" this week in practice. Ashford is still hoping to make his college debut. He split first-team reps with Finley during the last week of practice.

"He's ready to go. He's one play away from being out there," Harsin said. "So he's going to get plenty of reps, plenty of opportunities to keep proving himself, and he's got to get that mentality down. That's the hardest thing about being a backup quarterback is you've got to prepare like the starter. You don't get all the reps. You're not getting all the attention. You're not going into the game knowing that you're the starter, but you're preparing like one."

Calzada's slide is the big surprise. He started 10 games for the Aggies last year and was the favorite to be Auburn's starter entering this preseason. But Harsin believes Calzada is still catching up after missing most of spring with a lingering shoulder injury − one he ironically suffered against Auburn last November.

When asked for the message specifically to Calzada, Harsin didn't want to reveal too much.

"He's getting his message from (offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau)," Harsin said. "That's not something that I'm going to share with everybody. These guys are all – this is really important to them, right? Everybody's getting coached up. We don't go through everybody on this list and what the expectations are day-to-day like we do with our players. We're not going to do that publicly."

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Zach Calzada isn't Auburn football's starting quarterback. What now?