This season, Auburn has Jarrett Stidham on its side to help overcome that sluggish start.
“I think there’s a lot of different factors with that,” Malzahn said Tuesday. “Obviously, when you have a returning starting quarterback definitely helps.”
But Stidham isn’t just your run-of-the-mill returning starter at quarterback. Last season, he became just the second quarterback in Auburn football history to throw for 3,000 yards when he totaled 3,158 yards with 16 touchdown passes.
That makes him the first 3,000-yard passer in school history to return for the next season.
This marks just the second time during Malzahn’s tenure as head coach that he’s had his starting quarterback return.