Former Texas A&M QB Zach Calzada Making Most of Battle at Auburn
Zach Calzada took an opportunity and made it his own. It will go down in Texas A&M history as one of the finest moments.
Now, he'll look do to the same at Auburn in 2022.
Calzada, who transferred from A&M following the season finale loss to LSU, is in the midst of another quarterback competition for the Tigers' starting job. He's said the right things in practice and made the right throws to receivers throughout the summer.
It's now all about putting together the finished product moving into Week 1.
“We appreciate his leadership,” Auburn coach Bryan Harsin said at SEC Media Days Thursday morning. “We appreciate just his work ethic. He has experience. He’s played. The only unfortunate thing is we didn’t get a chance to have him in spring because of his shoulder going through all the team periods because we hurt him.”
Calzada was never supposed to start for the Aggies. Redshirt freshman Haynes King won the job during summer camp and made the most of his reps in a Week 1 victory over Kent State.
Two drives into Week 2's matchup against Colorado, King's season was over. He suffered a broken leg during the first quarter, thus opening the door for Calzada to become the next long-term option for Jimbo Fisher's offense.
His results were mixed. One week, he struggled to complete passes against Mississippi State's secondary. The next, he led the Aggies down the field on a game-winning drive against then-No. 1 Alabama in front of a packed crowd at Kyle Field.
“Zach is a tremendous human being,” Fisher said Thursday for his former quarterback. “I hated to lose Zach. He’s a competitor. He has tremendous arm talent. He’s competitive. He’s tough. He’s smart. He’s a team guy. Zach will do anything in the world to win for his teams.
"To me, it’s just a great honor to have coached somebody that tough and that competitive.”
Calzada finished the season with a 6-4 record as a starter. He threw for 2,185 yards, 17 touchdowns, and nine interceptions while completing 56.1 percent of his passes. Fans and reporters on The Plains believe he is the favorite to start the season opener against Mercer.
Currently, the Tigers have a four-way battle on their hands with Calzada, T.J. Finley, former Oregon quarterback Robby Ashford, and freshman Holden Geriner. Ashford elected to transfer this past offseason after two seasons in Eugene. Finley transferred to Auburn after losing starting reps to Max Johnson in 2020.
A native of Georgia, Calzada will be playing just three hours away from his hometown in Sugar Hill. One thing the junior possesses over others fighting for the title of QB1 is arm strength.
Just on film alone, Harsin can see the potential. Players can too.
“What I’ve seen from him in the spring was the leadership part, and when I’ve seen him get healthy, I’ve seen the athleticism,” Auburn running back Tank Bigsby said. “He’s got both, you know what I mean?
"He can be a great quarterback, and he can be what it takes."
Bigsby, who hopes to be the x-factor to the Tigers' success, can remember the matchup against A&M last November at Kyle Field. Bruised yet unbothered, Calzada suffered a dislocated shoulder in the first half. Instead of turning toward Blake Bost, he asked trainers to pop it back into place so he could finish the game.
He'd throw for 192 yards to a 20-3 victory. It didn't take long for Bigsby to notice the tenacity inside the Aggies' quarterback.
Now his teammate, Bigsby sees it on the regular in practice.
“You want to play with somebody that got that dog in him,” Bigsby said. “He didn’t back down, he didn’t give up, he didn’t quit. I’d rather play with somebody that doesn’t want to quit all the time.”
The Aggies will travel to Auburn this season to face Calzada and the Tigers on Nov. 12.
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