Auburn football: Eric Kiesau on Robby Ashford’s role vs. Penn State

While most fans want Auburn football to succeed this season no matter who is taking snaps at the quarterback position, it’s probably safe to say that the fan-favorite in the QB room is former Oregon Duck Robby Ashford.

There was a lot of hype surrounding Ashford’s athletic ability all throughout the offseason, and in the first two games of the season he has certainly shown that he has the ability to be an explosive playmaker for the Tigers. However, with no prior experience to this season, does Ashford really have what it takes to lead an offense against SEC defenses?

While so far Ashford has been primarily used to change things up here and there, Auburn football offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau said that this weekend the expectations have increased for the transfer QB, per Auburn Undercover:

"“It’s really important to use Robby in the right way,” offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau said Thursday evening on Tiger Talk, Auburn’s in-house radio show. “We’re going to use him in more than just a running capacity. That was kind of his niche and his role in the first two games. Now we need to expand his horizons at the quarterback position.”"

We have seen quite a bit of Ashford’s running game, but not very much of his passing game. After an early interception last week against San Jose State, Ashford finished the game with only three pass attempts. It’s likely that Ashfords “expanded horizons” will include a lot more passing.

With so much on the line, from setting the tone to the rest of the Tigers’ season to keeping the recruiting momentum going, whichever quarterback performs the best–be it Finley, Ashford, or even Zach Calzada–will be the one holding the keys to Auburn football’s offense. If Ashford performs well in his expanded role, it could be a deciding games in terms of who is QB1 for the rest of the season, as well.