By KALA BOLTON / Staff Writer

AUBURN — Auburn football head coach Gene Chizik announced Tuesday that junior quarterback Barrett Trotter, a former Briarwood Christian School standout, has been moved to second string for the Tigers’ Oct. 22 match-up at No. 1 LSU.

Sophomore Clint Moseley will make his first collegiate start at Death Valley in place of Trotter.

“He’s been a warrior,” Chizik said about Trotter. “He’s taken hits, gotten back up. I’m not going to say he’s not beat up; I think our whole football team is. Physically, he’s fine.”

In his first two games as a starter, Trotter completed 33-of-46 passes, a 71.7 completion percentage, racking up 407 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. Trotter led two late scoring drives to lift the Tigers over Utah State in the Sept. 3 season opener and captained a 41-34 home win over Mississippi State Sept. 10.

In the last five games, Trotter completed only 48-of-103 passes, 46.6 percent, totaling 602 yards, five touchdowns and five interceptions.

Trotter’s production has steadily declined since Auburn’s Sept. 17 loss at Clemson, during which he completed 12-of-25 passes for 198 yards. Trotter racked up 178 passing yards against Florida Atlantic, 112 against South Carolina and 81 against Arkansas.

Auburn coaches pulled Trotter at halftime of the Tigers’ Oct. 15 match-up against Florida after the quarterback had completed only 2-of-8 passes, totaling 33 yards and one touchdown in two quarters of play. Moseley took over and seemed to be the source of a much-needed spark within the Auburn offense as he completed 4-of-7 passes for 90 yards, helping lead the Tigers to a 17-6 win over the Gators.

“You’re happy for the ones that get opportunities,” Chizik said, “but you hurt for the ones who don’t.”