Will Auburn QB Jeremy Johnson be ready for the spotlight?

By foxsports
Published

Many pundits have Auburn as the favorite to win the SEC West. Even the league's sports information directors are believers as they voted the Tigers as their preseason choice to win their division. Much of that faith rests in the coaching ability of Gus Malzahn and Will Muschamp together on the same team. 

Surprisingly, the fact that Auburn will be starting a new quarterback this season doesn't seem to faze many this preseason. While Jeremy Johnson is somewhat of a mystery, he has played exceptionally well with the limited action he's seen on the field. The hopes and dreams of Auburn's season may very well rest on the talented junior's shoulders, as the Tigers return only four offensive starters from last season. 

Is Johnson ready to carry a team? To be the face of a conference and national-title contender? That seems to be asking quite a lot for a player with only two career starts to his name. 

According to the Clarion Ledger, the Auburn quarterback appears to be taking it all in stride thus far. 

"I've never seen this many cameras in my life," Johnson said. "I'm really just cherishing this moment and opportunity right now."

Johnson had better get use to it. 

"All I can do is control what I can control and that's getting better each and every game and let the individual accolades come with winning. If you don't win, you don't get any of those individual accolades."

Former Georgia Bulldog standout and current ESPN college football analyst David Pollack recently said he believes Johnson is the league's best quarterback. His head coach echoed similar statements Monday during SEC Media Days. 

"He could have started for the majority of teams," Malzahn said. "The way he's responded is really something special."

The quarterback appears humbled by the praise and certainly is saying all the right things leading up to the season. 

"It's fun. I'm blessed to be here. Not only me, I'm blessed for my family, for the whole entire Auburn family," Johnson said. "It's a great opportunity. I appreciate everything I'm doing right now. I'm happy. I'm really happy."

Everyone loves Johnson at the moment. The bandwagon is as full as it can be for a player with so little experience heading into a season. But how quickly will things change if Johnson and Auburn struggle out of the gate against a Louisville team that won nine games in 2014? Two weeks later the Tigers travel to LSU against a Tigers team that will be eager for revenge following a 41-7 loss last season. 

While expectations are incredibly high, how will Johnson face the adversity that may come and come early? Until we get a definitive answer, Auburn fans would be wise to temper championship expectations. 

(h/t AL.com)