Tristan Ti’a Jumps to Top Of Auburn QB2 Race: ‘Monumental Steps’

Although Auburn is rolling with quarterback Byrum Brown as its starter, he has a promising player who will be right behind him competing.

Auburn Tigers quarterback Tristan Ti'a (10) throws the ball during the first day of football practice at the Woltosz Football Performance Center. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Auburn Tigers are planning to rely on Byrum Brown as their signal-caller for 2026, but there have been some questions as to what the Tigers’ offense will look like after Brown–after all, it is his last year of eligibility–as well as what will happen if Brown, a contact-heavy rusher, is sidelined with an injury this year.

Enter Tristian Ti’a, an Oregon State transfer who, despite his youth, has been an incredibly competent player in his limited run of college football. Ti’a has long since been expected to be the Tigers’ QB2 this season, and Alex Golesh seemed to confirm that on Friday after the team’s scrimmage.

“Tristan Ti’a has taken a majority of the two reps in fall camp so far,” Golesh said. “He did some really good things today…. He's still young, uber talented, but still young. We rolled [Locklan Hewlett] and Rhys [Brush] with the threes today. They have rotated there all camp. They are competing like crazy there, and I'm excited about both of those guys too. So, we'll reassess today and see, but so far up until camp, up until this point in camp, Tristan's taken all the two reps.”

Ti’a, a sophomore, threw for 385 yards and three touchdowns in his freshman season at Oregon State, though he only threw a total of 53 passes, completing 37 of them. This, already, is more experience than most sophomores have at this point, especially at the quarterback position, and Golesh seems confident that his development is continuing well in fall camp.

“Tristan has taken monumental steps. He had a really good first seven practices, and then as install started getting heavy and you started getting into heavy situational football, it started happening fast for him. I thought for the most part, other than one throw, I would tell you, it slowed down for him today. He's got some gamer in him when he is out there. He’s got a cool swag and a cool confidence about him, and he's played a bunch of football for being so young.”

So, though Ti’a is still quite young, things clearly seem to be clicking for him, even if at a basic level, early in fall camp, which bodes well for not only the Tigers’ safety net if Brown goes down, but also for the future of the program under Alex Golesh, as Ti’a should still have a full three years of eligibility left after the 2026 season. 

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