Sean White will remain Auburn's starting quarterback for this week's game against No. 18 LSU.

Following last week's loss to Texas A&M, in which White started and came out after three quarters and John Franklin III played in the fourth, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn was noncommittal as to who would start at quarterback this week.

After further evaluation on Sunday and Monday, Malzahn decided to stick with White, who was 18 of 27 for 126 yards and had eight carries for minus-two yards while being sacked three times against Texas A&M.

"Sean White is going to be our starter," Malzahn said during his Tuesday press conference. "John Franklin will be available, if needed, but we're going to go with Sean and we're confident with that."

White, who won the starting job following the longest quarterback battle of Malzahn's college coaching career, is 45 of 71 for 510 yards with three touchdowns and has 22 carries for 56 yards this season. The redshirt-sophomore 63.4 percent completion rate is second in the SEC and his efficiency and production are all up from his time as starter lat season.

"We feel like he gives us the best chance of winning," Malzahn said. "We've got to be better around him. We've got to put him in better situations from a coaching standpoint to help him. ... There's no doubt that when he gets in a rhythm, he's a solid quarterback."

White has not available for interviews since following the win over Arkansas State.

Franklin, the dual-threat junior college college transfer, saw his most action of the season while playing the entire fourth quarter in last week's loss to Texas A&M.

He was 4 for 8 for 37 yards and added 47 yards rushing on nine carries against the Aggies. Franklin helped lead drives of 62, 66 and 31 yards in what was Auburn's most productive quarter offensively, though Texas A&M held a two-score lead at the time he entered the game.

Franklin has not been available for interviews since following the A-Day spring game on April 9.

As to whether coming out of last week's game when the score was 19-10 impacted White's confidence, Malzahn said "you've got to take all that in" when making a decision to change quarterbacks during a game.

"The big thing is we felt like we needed a shot in the arm and we were completely honest (with White), 'Hey, this is what we're thinking. This is why we did it,'" Malzahn said. "And each game unfolds differently. Really at that time, I felt like we needed a shot in the arm and it did give us some type of shot in the arm. So that's just part of coaching. You make decisions like that when you feel like at the is the best situation for your team and that was what we felt like at the time."

Auburn gained 399 yards against Texas A&M but lacked consistency and explosiveness offensively, though it was not always the fault of the quarterbacks.

"I think as players we've got to make more plays," wide receiver Marcus Davis said. "Everybody can say what they want, but just being a player, on the third down, I dropped a pass on Saturday. That could have changed the game. So it's just little things like that that we could do as players and just hold everybody accountable to a certain standard."

Malzahn addressed the need to produce more explosive plays, a concern that persisted all of last season as well, after the Tigers had no pass plays over 20 yards last week.

"I really think explosive plays have more to do with opportunities," he said. "You know, we've got to give our guys more opportunities for the explosive plays, specifically throwing the ball down the field. Each game's a little different as far as what you're going against and your personnel. But we've got to give our guys more opportunities."