Auburn football: Schedule built to benefit Tigers QB competition

When the 2022 Auburn football season kicks off, there might still be some uncertainty on who is the right man for the job. There should be — it’s mid-August and ‘heavy favorite‘ Zach Calzada has seemingly lost ground in the QB battle to T.J. Finley. Even Robby Ashford has more momentum to get significant playing time.

The Tigers have a few games to get this sorted since it seems it’ll take some time to see if this team is SEC Championship material or if the season will be more in line with what many are projecting for Auburn football this fall.

AU’s schedule perfectly sets up de facto auditions for the role in Week 1 against FCS squad Mercer and Week 2 against projected Mountain West low seed San Jose State. While the rest of the slate will be brutal, smooth sailing should be expected out of the gate.

By the time Week 3 against Penn State rolls around, the tailgating will be in midseason form in the third consecutive home game featuring what could be one of the largest traveling crowds of the season, all the way from the northeast. If Bryan Harsin has a shot at overcoming the narrative and getting the Tigers back in the Top 25, which they were from Week 2 until Week 7 and then Week 8 until Week 12 of the 2021 season, he’ll also have a signal-caller in mid-season form.

Josh Pate: Auburn football has time to figure out their QB situation

Ask the calm, cool, and collected Josh Pate (take notes Stephen A.) about the Auburn football QB battle, and he’ll tell you to relax. Pate put things into beautiful perspective when he talked about the upcoming schedule and how that could alter the current perception of who the leading passer is on the Plains:

"“I think T.J. Finley would start for them if they had to play a football game today. I also happen to know they don’t have to. They also have a scrimmage or two left. And I think that what’s about to happen is you are about to have this quarterback battle shaved from three to two.”"

If you are backing Zach Calzada in the QB battle, relax. He still has time to shake off the injury rust of his non-throwing shoulder — cruelly suffered against the Tigers last November in a losing Auburn effort in College Station against Calzada’s Texas A&M Aggies.

If, say, you are supporting T.J. Finley, you should be happy about the current developments and excited about the prospect of holding onto the starting spot come September 3rd against a big Mercer secondary he may be able to outduel as a six-foot-seven with a rocket for an arm.

As for the likely long list of Birmingham area Tiger fans hoping Hoover’s own Robby Ashford gets the shot, cling to the fact that Bryan Harsin has talked about using multiple quarterbacks in varied packages.

Everyone with a horse in the race has another month to be optimistic about their guy winning the battle until further updates come along. If the QB battle extends beyond the Penn State game, well, perhaps the old saying of ‘if you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have one’ will play out in ugly fashion this coming season.

As long as someone is throwing well and leading the offense to enough points to sustain in the SEC, Auburn football will be a, dare I say, dark horse in the conference this year given their stout defense and strong RB room.