Auburn Tigers: Gus Malzahn names Jarrett Stidham as starting quarterback

Auburn coach Gus Malzahn announced Monday that sophomore Jarrett Stidham will be the starting quarterback for the Tigers in their season opener against Georgia Southern on Sept. 2.

Stidham beat out last season's starter, Sean White, as well as freshman Malik Willis for the starting job, but the choice comes as no surprise. Stidham was considered the front-runner since he committed to Auburn in December 2016 after sitting out the 2016 season.

As a freshman at Baylor in 2015, Stidham completed 68.8 percent of his passes for 12 touchdowns in 10 games, including three starts. He left Baylor the following spring and took classes at McLennan Community College in 2016 without playing football.

In Auburn's spring game in April, the 6-foot-3, 214-pound Stidham completed 16 of 20 passes for 267 yards and a touchdown.