Any formation is possible with Gus Malzahn.

Auburn started Sean White at quarterback but it took just two plays for both Jeremy Johnson and John Franklin III to see the field - at wide receiver. All three signal callers saw time behind center, including at times on the same drive, and the Auburn offense was unable to find a consistent rhythm in a 19-13 loss to No. 2 Clemson Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

In early August, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said he did not expect to play all three quarterbacks against Clemson. Yet following Saturday's game, which was Auburn's sixth straight home loss to a Power 5 conference opponent, Malzahn said the game plan coming in was to play White, Johnson and Franklin.

"They all three had packages and that was our plan and that's what we went with," Malzahn said. "At times it went well and at times we struggled. But a lot of it was first half (Clemson) did some unique things that they hadn't done a lot so it took us a little bit a while just to get a feel for what they were doing. Second half we had a better idea of how they were playing us."

White (10 for 21 for 140 yards with an interception), Johnson (4 for 6 for 38 yards with an interception and fumble) and Franklin (1 for 1 for minus-3 yards) became the first trio of Auburn quarterbacks to each complete at least one pass in the same game was when Nick Marshall, Johnson and Jonathan Wallace did it against Florida Atlantic in 2013.

They combined to complete 15 for 30 passes for 175 yards but failed to reach the end zone and were responsible for all three of Auburn's turnovers, two of which came in the red zone.

Malzahn grew irritated at the continued questioning about the quarterback situation following the game.

"There wasn't any hesitation (at playing all three); that was our plan," Malzahn said. "I mean that's about the tenth time y'all have asked me that anybody else want to ask that again."

On Auburn's second offensive play, White lined up in the shotgun with Johnson and Franklin both split out wide left. White handed the ball off to receiver Stanton Truitt, who lost two yards. On third down, White completed a four-yard pass to Marcus Davis and Auburn went three-and-out on its first drive.

During the Tiger Talk radio program on Thursday, a fan asked Malzahn if he had thought of having both White and Franklin on the field at the same time.

"I thought about just about everything," Malzahn said. "I just don't know if we're going to do it. I think about football 24/7."

On the first play of Auburn's second drive, Franklin lined up in the backfield as White handed the ball off to H-back Chandler Cox. Franklin then took over at quarterback and completed his only pass of the game to Marcus Davis for a loss of three yards and Auburn again went three-and-out.

Johnson got his chance behind center to start Auburn's third drive. The senior converted a pair of third downs with passes to walk-on Will Hastings for eight and 10 yards before the 12-play drive eventually stalled and Daniel Carlson kicked a 53-yard field goal to give Auburn a 3-0 with 12:58 to go in the second quarter.

After Clemson took a 7-3 lead following a 13-play, 84-yard drive, Johnson remained at quarterback but had much less success. The Montgomery native was sacked on back-to-back plays and Auburn went three-and-out again.

"In the first half, Jeremy, he really came in and sparked us to be honest with you," offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said on the radio following the game. "He made some really good throws on third down that got us down to get us that first field goal and get us on the board first."

White, who was named the starter on Aug. 25 following the longest quarterback battle in Malzahn's 11 years of coaching college football, returned on the next drive. The redshirt-sophomore ran for a loss of one, gain of seven and threw an incomplete pass as Auburn went three-and-out again and Auburn went into halftime trailing 10-3.

The merry-go-round picked up in the second half as White, Johnson and Franklin continued to rotate, including on the same drive.

With increasing the offensive tempo an area of emphasis this off-season, Malzahn said it was possible to play fast and make regular changes at QB.

"Obviously there was some of the plays that we would've executed a little bit better," Malzahn said. "I think our tempo would have been better when it was kind of a situation where things kind of stalled out; that's when we'd go ahead and change."

But it wasn't only after Auburn's five three-and-outs that quarterbacks changed.

Trailing 19-6 in the fourth quarter, White completed a 43-yard pass to Kyle Davis - Auburn's longest offensive play of the game. Franklin then came in and there was a substitution infraction. White returned to help guide Auburn to the red zone but threw an interception at the 1-yard line with 6:15 to go.

None of the three quarterbacks were available for interviews following Saturday's game.

"When Jeremy had his plays - we didn't want it to be where we're jerking guys back and forth, one play in, one play out," Lashlee said. "When (Johnson) went in for his plays, he stayed in, again, he sustained two good drives for us and got us on the board.

"Sean was never really able to get in a rhythm because the way the first half went. The second half, he was. There's one throw I know he'd like to have back in the red zone for a touchdown. His interception, it's fourth down, you've got to give somebody a chance and it just didn't go our way."

Malzahn said the changes mid-drive during the second half happened "because they all three had different packages and different situations, different plays we felt comfortable with. ... Certain quarterbacks at better at certain plays and you want to call certain plays and we've been practicing that way for a while. Our guys knew what to expect and so that was the plan."

Malzahn left open the possibility of continuing to rotate quarterbacks and expects White to be the starter against Arkansas State next week.

Cox said he believes there is a chance for Auburn to have success despite the constant

"I think it was OK," said Cox, who had four carries for six yards and also took some direct snaps. "I don't think it was a big problem tonight because it's not just (the quarterbacks); it's us, it's me, it's our offense."