Utah State football: Trotter leads Auburn against Aggies

AUBURN, Ala. — No. 23 Auburn's new quarterback Barrett Trotter doesn't stand out quite like the towering figure of his predecessor when he walks or pedals his bike around campus.

In fact, sometimes Trotter says he can pass for just another graduate student. He's now a big man on campus, just not THE BMOC like Cam Newton.

"I don't walk around with a poster or anything," Trotter said. "I'm just kind of another guy walking around most of the time. Some people recognize me and a lot of people don't."

That will soon change. Trotter will get both his first start and the first significant college experience when Utah State visits Saturday in the season opener for both teams.

Like many of his teammates on the defending champions' overhauled roster, Trotter is a bit of a mystery to fans if not teammates and coaches. They've seen him in occasional mop-up duty and watched him throw all of 12 passes in the spring game but not taking the field in front of 85,000-plus fans with the game in his hands.

This much seems certain: Trotter is unlikely to alternate between bulldozing and outrunning opposing defenders with the regularity of Newton, or try to emulate the Heisman Trophy winner's style. But he can run, as evidenced by the 37 yards he gained on two carries against South Carolina in the Southeastern Conference championship game.

The unassuming junior — who also is starting graduate school this fall — won a three-man battle for the starting job in preseason camp but isn't satisfied.

"I feel like I still have something to prove," Trotter said. "Just winning the starting spot doesn't prove anything about how I'm going to do when I'm out there."

Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn has a pretty strong track record of breaking in new starting quarterbacks. After all, he has coached six in as many seasons as a college coach.

"There may not be as many designed runs as we had for Cam," Trotter said. "But we're going to stick to the same type of stuff."

Malzahn likes Trotter's demeanor and said he "doesn't get too high or too low." Tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen said he has noticed a change since Trotter won the starting job.

"He's been a lot more vocal just toward the whole offense, really just trying to lead us," Lutzenkirchen said. "Whenever we have kind of a blank period in practice, he'll just kind of be there motivating everyone."