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'After the game, said I did almost perfect. 'I was like, 'Dang, like, no love?'' Willis said. Willis knew he needed to go after Auburn's spring game in 2018, when he didn't get reps against the first team. He certainly wasn't gonna be able to throw. So even when he was in, he wasn't allowed to do anything. 'Even when they were up 30 points in the fourth quarter, it was very limited time,' said McEvoy. But Willis wasn't able to show what he was fully capable of because of limited snaps and limited options in those snaps. When Willis arrived at Auburn, he was buried down the depth chart, but he quickly worked his way up to being Stidham's backup. McShay's preseason top 50: His first rankings for the 2022 NFL draft.I mean, he was long, he was athletic, he could really run, throw the deep ball well.' Editor's Picks 'For me, he just reminded us a lot of Nick.

So we reached out to John, started talking with Malik and realized even though he committed to Virginia Tech, he definitely had some interest in Auburn, staying close to home and playing at Auburn. 'And so Malik was a guy who played for John Ford up at Roswell. 'Obviously, we've had success with Nick Marshall, Cam Newton and those guys,' said current Miami offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee, who originally recruited Willis to Auburn. When starting quarterback Sean White got hurt at the end of 2016, the Tigers realized they needed to bring in a high school quarterback to develop. Five months later, he would decommit and go with Auburn and then-coach Gus Malzahn.ДЄuburn wasn't planning on taking a high school quarterback in that class, because it was the class after it brought Jarrett Stidham in from Baylor (and Stidham had to sit out a season).

But no one was biting on him as a recruit the way he felt they should have been.Д®ventually Willis committed to Virginia Tech in June 2016.

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Willis' high school career started at Atlanta's Westlake High School, best known as the alma mater of Cam Newton, but he didn't play quarterback full time until his senior year, when he transferred to Roswell. In his first season as a college starting quarterback, that throw made one thing readily apparent:

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'I'm not sure what other quarterback in college football, and it's gotta be a small list in the NFL that can make that play,' said Sean McEvoy, one of Willis' private QB coaches who also works with a plethora of the best collegiate and pro quarterbacks. In a season full of highlights - Willis completed 64.2% of his passes for 2,250 yards and 20 touchdowns with six interceptions, while rushing for 944 yards and 14 more scores - this is the play that would define Liberty's present turnaround and Willis' seemingly unlimited future potential. Two plays later, the Flames take a 14-3 lead and would eventually hold on for a wild 38-35 victory, arguably the biggest in school history. 'I'm like, 'I can't believe he just did that.'' 'I just shook my head up in the box,' Liberty co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kent Austin said. It should be a turnover on downs, the kind of defensive stop that could swing the game back in Virginia Tech's favor.Д«ut Willis spins off Conner, continues rolling to his right and throws a strike down the sideline to wide receiver Kevin Shaa, who gets a foot in bounds to set Liberty up at the 3-yard line. He takes the snap and is almost immediately met by defensive back Chamarri Conner. Willis looks across the line of scrimmage at the Hokies, the program that was one of the few Division I schools to originally offer him a scholarship, even if it would likely be at defensive back instead of his preferred quarterback position. Liberty, on this day last November, is ranked for the first time in program history - but still not really taken seriously - as 17-point underdogs at unranked Virginia Tech. The Flames are going for it, and the ball is going to be in star quarterback Malik Willis' hands. Coach Hugh Freeze and Liberty are facing a fourth-and-3 from Virginia Tech's 38-yard line early in the second quarter, and two things are abundantly clear.

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