AU FOOTBALL: Trotter used recovery time to learn offense

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second in a series of stories profiling the Auburn quarterbacks who are actively practicing for the Outback Bowl and are expected to compete for the 2010 starting job. Today: Barrett Trotter. Sunday: Neil Caudle.

Finally, Barrett Trotter has his chance.

After redshirting last year, then missing all of this season recovering from a torn ACL he suffered during spring practice, the quarterback from Briarwood Christian is back.

And healthy — or as close as a player can get to 100 percent after reconstructive knee surgery.

Trotter is making up for lost time.

“It’s a lot better than standing around and watching everybody,” he said. “It’s fun to get back out there again and get back in the swing of things. It kind of makes all that rehab worth it and getting back out there. It’s been good.”

Oh, and he’s also trying to win the 2010 starting quarterback job.

The redshirt freshman is using the extra reps he’s getting during Outback Bowl preparations to shake off the rust and further impress offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn. Trotter hopes to finish the job he started in the spring before he got hurt, when the quarterback competition was just as open as it will be this spring.

“He was getting almost equal reps in the spring toward the end until he got hurt,” Malzahn said.

Obviously, Chris Todd won the job to open summer camp, with Neil Caudle coming in second. Trotter, of course, was sidelined with his injured knee. And it stayed that way until the week of the Tennessee game, when Trotter was able to return to practice.

Trotter was able to workout and travel with the team, where Malzahn used him to help signal in plays from the sidelines.

And that, Trotter says, was invaluable for staying fresh inside Malzahn’s complex scheme.

“I’ve been working with the offense the whole year, traveled to all the games, been in all the meetings,” Trotter said. “I’ve pretty much gone through everything except the actual on-the-field practicing type of stuff. So it’s good to kind of get that other side coming up, getting back on the field.

“I feel comfortable in the offense, comfortable with the calls and knowing what to do.”

And it’s starting to show in bowl practice, Malzahn said.

“He’s coming along and doing some good things,” the offensive coordinator said. “He’s got a very good football mind, and he’s kind of got that savvy. He can create some plays on his own, and he’s a good zone read runner. He’s a tough kid.”

Trotter is looking to draw from last spring’s competition and what he learned this year from a mental standpoint to help him win the job next
season.

“I think any time you have to go through something like that, it’s going to help you grow in a lot of different ways,” Trotter said. “I think through the injury and just through watching this year ... you learn a lot of things just by being around and watching and having to go through some of that stuff.”

That attitude, coupled with Trotter’s talent, and Malzahn’s decision is going to be that much harder.

“He’s starting to get a little more polished and his timing is starting to come back and the ball is coming out of his hands extremely well,” Malzahn said. “He has a very live arm. And he’s very serious about it and wants to be in the mix.”

mszvetitz@oanow.com | 737-2513