Even though the Tigers had set up the young quarterback for success by starting him at home against an underdog, things began poorly and ended worse. Interceptions were the story of the day, and the young man ended his first game with a surprising loss. The questions began almost as soon as the game ended.
Was he really the right guy to lead the Tigers? After all, his predecessor had set the bar extremely high. Unlike him, he wasn’t nearly as athletic. He wasn’t a threat to run the ball. He didn’t have the big arm. He would begin his career with questions swirling about his ability as a QB and would constantly fight for his job, staring over his shoulder at “the next best thing.” But he battled, because that’s what he does. He was a gamer and a winner.
First impressions are everything, and the Auburn faithfuls’ first impression of their new quarterback wasn’t just bad. It was historically bad. Though he threw for 342 yards and two touchdowns, it was his four interceptions that sealed the fate for the Auburn Tigers, who lost 23-14 at home against a surprising Georgia Tech team. That loss was a far cry from the expectations of the Auburn fan base, who had enjoyed a perfect season just the year before. Though Auburn would go on to win nine games in 2005, including five straight, he ended the year on a sour note posting his lowest QBR of the year, a dreadful 22.8 in the bowl game.
Sound like Sean White’s freshman season? Close. It’s Brandon Cox’s.
By 2007, Cox would sneak up the Auburn leader board in almost every category, despite playing the entire year looking over his shoulder at Kodi Burns. By season’s end, Cox made Auburn’s top ten list in career and single season passing and touchdowns. He just missed the single game list, his 342 yards being 16 yards short of Pat Sullivan’s 366-yard effort in 1970 against Florida.
Most importantly, Cox would go on to be Auburn’s all-time wins leader as a quarterback with a record of 29–9 and was a member of a record-setting class that won 50 games while being one of two Auburn QBs to be 3–0 against the Tide. Despite all of this, Cox doesn’t make many fan’s list of top Auburn quarterbacks. Perhaps it’s because he wasn’t flashy. Perhaps because of his 4–32 TD/INT mark. Still, he was a winner.
Enter Sean White.
He wasn’t the heralded recruit that was Jeremy Johnson. Nor is he on a par with Auburn’s “next big thing,” Woody Barrett. Like Cox, White’s first start didn’t help his cause as he lost to Mississippi State at home after a first drive INT in the red zone. 2015 was a season to forget, thanks to injuries against Arkansas. Like Cox, White finished the year in dreadful fashion in the bowl game with a 26 QBR, thanks to two INTs. After that showing, White was involved in the longest fight for the starting QB job in the Gus Malzahn era, which ultimately cost Auburn at least the loss to Clemson and, possibly, hopes of a College Football Playoff spot. The fight for the job was fierce as were the arguments between fans. The three-way battle between White, Johnson, and transfer John Franklin, III was fan fodder for months and continues to this day.
Currently, White has nine wins in his two years on the Plains. It’s fair to assume that Auburn will win at least two games to close the 2016 season. Assuming White sticks around for two more years, remains the starter, and Auburn averages nine wins a year, he will tie Brandon Cox’s record of 29 wins. He is on pace to throw for 8,800 career yards and 43 touchdowns. This would rank him first in yardage and third in touchdowns, all time. There are many assumptions to that, obviously. White is just as likely to enter the NFL draft early (considering he just graded out higher than Ole Miss’ Kelly by Pro Football Focus) as he is to be replaced by “the next big thing.”
One thing is for certain: like Cox, White doesn’t know how to quit. He’s a winner, despite what the scoreboard and stats say. However, the stat sheets for Cox and White are beginning to look very different, though the wins look the same. That’s why he may well set a lot of records at Auburn, despite being one of the most unheralded QB’s on the Plains.
The post Rough Starts to Record Holders appeared first on Track 'Em Tigers, Auburn's oldest and most read independent blog.
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