Sean White's numbers in the box score of Auburn's 17-9 loss to Mississippi State was very unspectacular, but his head coach liked what he saw on the field.

In a weekly news conference, Gus Malzahn confirmed he will stick with White as the Tigers' starting quarterback going forward, according to the team's official website.

Malzahn moved White up to the top spot on the Auburn depth chart after Jeremy Johnson struggled through his first three games, though he helped Auburn win two of those games. Malzahn said White "gave the offense a spark," but noted that the offense could not finish its drives.

"He did some very good things," ESPN quoted the coach telling reporters. "Sean will start again this week. I really feel like he's earned that. If you take away the red zone struggles right there we had, we felt like we got better on the offensive side of the football."

White completed 20 passes in 28 attempts and threw for 188 yards. However, he threw a red zone interception in a game where Auburn failed to score a touchdown in their own stadium.

Though early on, Auburn faces an uphill climb to get back into contention in the extremely competitive SEC West. At 0-2 in conference play, Auburn trails four teams in the division. After hosting San Jose State, Auburn visits Kentucky and Arkansas before hosting Ole Miss, visiting Texas A&M, and then hosting Georgia.

"He didn't have that bright-eyed look like he was scared or anything like that," Malzahn said at his presser. "Then right before he went out there the first drive, you could tell he was ready to go and just needed to get hit once. I felt like that first drive with a new quarterback, he did some very good things. He got some pressure one time, made a throw down the field, and did some good things. There's a lot of things we can build upon with him. I think he'll get nothing but better with experience."

(Stats: ESPN)