Bryan Harsin: Zach Calzada still 'catching up' from injury in Auburn football QB competition

AUBURN — Bryan Harsin said Zach Calzada is still "catching up" in Auburn football's 2022 quarterback competition from the shoulder injury that limited him during spring practices.

"He had a shoulder injury in the spring, and this is the one thing with Zach," Harsin said Thursday night during the season debut of his weekly Tiger Talk radio show. "He's making up a lot of what he missed during that time. ... He's really catching up."

Calzada suffered the shoulder injury in a 20-3 win against Auburn last season, when he was Texas A&M's starting quarterback. He transferred to Auburn after the season and joined the competition with T.J. Finley and Robby Ashford.

Nine days before Auburn's season opener against Mercer on Sept. 3 (6 p.m. CT, ESPN+), Harsin was still mum on a specific timeline for his final starting quarterback decision.

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"I think he's got good command," Harsin said of Finley. "He's done a really good job of understanding what we're doing."

Harsin said Ashford's progress has taken a bit more time, but the Oregon transfer "has picked up quite a bit and has really played well the last couple weeks of camp." Ashford has split first-team reps with Finley in recent practices, although Finley has taken the bulk of the starter reps. Ashford has not appeared in a college game.

Calzada arrived at Auburn with more experience than Finley – 15 games since 2019, with 10 starts in 2021 – and marginally better numbers. Calzada's completion rate against SEC opponents (56.8%) is higher than his overall percentage (55.8%), but his adjusted yards per attempt fall from 6.4 overall to 6.15 in the SEC. His touchdown-to-interception ratio drops from 1.9 to 1.57 in league play.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Zach Calzada 'catching up' from injury in Auburn football QB competition