Auburn may be slipping in the national college football poll, but it is right in the thick of the highly contentious SEC West, yet head football coach Gus Malzahn still had to make a change.

Malzahn announced Tuesday that Sean White replaced Jeremy Johnson as the Tigers' starting quarterback after two shaky wins and one crushing loss. A redshirt freshman, White's first start will come on Saturday at home against Mississippi State.

"Anytime you change quarterbacks it's not an easy decision," Malzahn said at a press conference. "We feel like that's what's best for the offense right now.

"Sean White is a guy that has got a lot of reps. He's responded very well in practice and very well in scrimmages. I just feel like he needs a shot right now and we've got a lot of confidence in him."

Head over to AL.com for a full rundown of Malzahn's press conference comments.

Of the seven teams in the SEC West, three have no losses while Auburn is among three that have one loss. At 1-2, Arkansas is the division's only team with more than one loss.

Arguably the most competitive division in Division 1-A college football, the SEC West is far from settled and its teams are now in the stretch of the season where they will start playing each other more frequently.

Johnson, a junior, played sparingly in the last two seasons as a backup to Nick Marshall, but maintained a 70 percent completion percentage as a freshman and a 75 percent rate the next year. In 78 passing attempts in his first two seasons, Johnson threw nine touchdowns and just two interceptions.

After heading into this season as a dark horse Heisman candidate, Johnson's completion rate is just below 60 percent and he is not taking care of the ball, throwing six interceptions.

"Jeremy is a competitor, but he's a team guy too," Malzahn said. "He'll support Sean. He'll get reps still in practice and he'll be ready if he's called upon."

(Quotes: Auburn Athletics; Stats: ESPN)