Mississippi State at Auburn, a matchup coming this Saturday, was supposed to be billed as the battle of premier SEC quarterbacks.

Dak Prescott, a hard-to-stop dual threat, recorded 3,449 yards last year. Jeremy Johnson showed accuracy and great arm strength when he played in 2014, and with an offseason of grooming, entering his third year in coach Gus Malzahn’s offense, he seemed poised to achieve greatness.

What we’ll actually get on Saturday is nowhere near what we expected, so much so that one of the two quarterbacks isn’t even in the picture anymore. Sean White will be starting for Auburn on Saturday, a decision which Malzahn announced on Tuesday. Jeremy Johnson’s lack of improvement, consistent mistakes, and inaccuracy booted him out of the starting job.

Before the season, this game was supposed to pit the SEC’s reigning all-conference selection in Prescott with his potential changing-of-the-guard challenger in Johnson. Auburn seemed much better suited to challenge for an SEC West title, and with such a potent offense on an annual basis, the logic was that could thrust Johnson into the Heisman Trophy discussion. Johnson’s arm was supposed to be more NFL-ready than that of Prescott.

But instead of Dak Prescott vs. Jeremy Johnson, we have Dak Prescott vs. Sean White, a veteran pitted against a guy that almost no one knows. White, a redshirt freshman, was part of an up-tempo offense in high school which bodes well for Auburn’s up-tempo offense. He has been cited by Malzahn as a guy who can “flat-out throw it” as well as run it. Indeed, his senior year highlights showed him executing accurate passes on the move after being flushed out of the pocket, as well as making Prescott-like runs up the field.

Honestly, at this point, Auburn’s offense has nowhere to go but up. With White’s record of respectable ball security, he will bring improvement to Auburn’s offense even if he commits mistakes because of his inexperience in game time situations.

Prescott’s forecast remains largely unchanged, especially with the showing Auburn has made on defense in the last few games. Muschamp’s squad has struggled against both the run and mobile quarterbacks. Unless tackling and effort has improved during this last week, Prescott may be charging down the field at will on Saturday.

As surprising as it may sound, Auburn’s offense may be tasked with supporting its defense. The Tigers’ ineffectual offensive drives against LSU forced the defense on the field too quickly and too frequently. White should be better able to put together a sustained drive with the help of his running backs, and give the defense recovery time.

It will be a team effort for Auburn, in the truest sense of the phrase, if it wants to rise back up to the caliber it was supposed to be this season. The change at quarterback is just one measure out of many that is needed to bring the Tigers out of their unfortunate rut.

And while the game between the Bulldogs and the Tigers may not be what we all expected, it still could afford college football with some exciting moments and discoveries.