Auburn’s busy Stidham eager for bigger season

Jarrett Stidham didn’t journey to Machu Picchu this summer or scale Mount Kilimanjaro, so he hasn’t done everything.

It just seems that way.

Auburn’s redshirt junior quarterback has packed a lot into the last several weeks, traveling to California for the Elite 11 camp and to Louisiana for the Manning Passing Academy. Stidham is a new college graduate, and he recently got engaged to longtime girlfriend and Baylor University soccer player Kennedy Brown.

“It’s been crazy, but it’s been a summer to remember,” Stidham said last week at the Southeastern Conference’s annual Media Days event. “The Manning Camp was one of the top football experiences I’ve ever had. It’s not every day you get to sit down and talk to Peyton and Eli. Those guys are Hall of Famers and some of the best to ever do it.

“As for the engagement, there was more planning than I would have originally thought. I had it planned since May. Somehow I kept it from her for two months.”

Stidham doesn’t have many secrets to keep on the football field, his abilities having been revealed last season when he completed 246 of 370 passes (66.5 percent) for 3,158 yards with 18 touchdowns and six interceptions. His 246 completions set an Auburn single-season record, and he finished among the top 20 quarterbacks nationally in efficiency.

More importantly, his debut run of guiding the Tigers included a 26-14 defeat of No. 1 Alabama and an SEC West championship.

“Jarrett Stidham was the SEC newcomer of the year,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said, “and I just felt like he did a great job leading our offense and leading our team. He threw for more than 3,000 yards. He recently graduated, and he recently got engaged.

“He’s got a lot going on, and I think he’s ready for this season.”

Stidham transferred to Auburn from Baylor and did not get off to the quickest start with the Tigers. He had an interception returned for a touchdown during a 41-7 opening rout of Georgia Southern and then got sacked 11 times in the second game, a 14-6 loss at Clemson.

The 11 sacks Stidham endured were the most of any Bowl Subdivision quarterback a year ago in a single contest.

“I’m glad Clemson happened,” Stidham said, starting to smile. “I’m glad I got sacked 11 times, because that is never going to happen to me again. I can promise you that. I learned a lot from the Clemson game.”

Auburn had a turnover-plagued 24-10 win over Mercer to improve to 2-1 last season and then caught fire, scoring 40 or more points in seven of its next eight games. Included in that stretch was a 40-17 triumph over Georgia, which entered as the top-ranked team in the College Football Playoff standings.

Running back Kerryon Johnson shredded the Bulldogs for 167 yards, but he was injured in the second half of the Iron Bowl, which turned out to be Auburn’s last win. The Tigers lost the SEC title game in a rematch against Georgia and then fell in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl to undefeated Central Florida.

Though Johnson and fellow tailback Kamryn Pettway are no longer around, Stidham is not lacking for optimism regarding an offense that has plenty of firepower at receiver with Ryan Davis, Darius Slayton and Nate Craig-Myers.

“I really do believe that we’ll be just as good, if not better,” Stidham said.

Auburn has eight starters returning defensively, headed by Derrick Brown, Marlon Davidson and Dontavius Russell up front and with Deshaun Davis and Darrell Williams at linebacker. The schedule again is taxing, beginning with an opener against Washington in Atlanta and having to play in November at both Georgia and Alabama.

Stidham is only the second quarterback during the past decade at Auburn to start multiple years, with Nick Marshall being the other in 2013 and 2014. Accompanying his return is more freedom under second-year coordinator Chip Lindsey to make changes at the line of scrimmage before the snap.

That has Stidham quite excited amid his summer of excitement.

“Jarrett understands our offense very good, and he understands Coach Lindsey’s expectations,” Malzahn said. “He’s like a coach on the field, and towards the end of last year, they were thinking the same and talking the same. He’s going to have freedom to get us in the right play and to check us out of a bad play, and we’re really looking forward to him leading our offense.”

Said Stidham: “There is going to be more that is put on my shoulders, which I’m ready for.”

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.