Does BO's improvement carry over to iron bowl?

[aubiefifty 18,230]

Auburn hopes Bo Nix's improvement carries over to Iron Bowl

ByBrandon Marcello

4-5 minutes

AUBURN, Alabama — Bo Nix has lost count.

The Auburn legacy and starting quarterback has attended more Iron Bowls than he can remember. His deep connection to Auburn, where his father, Patrick, started and made his name against rivals Alabama and Florida, has helped define his life and has become low-hanging fruit for writers and commentators looking for a story to connect the past with the present.

Fulfilling dreams of playing in the Iron Bowl against No. 5 Alabama, however, doesn’t mean a storybook ending is on the horizon. The Tigers have lost all but one game against teams currently ranked in the national polls, and close calls against LSU and Georgia have only made the painful losses more unbearable for fans, players and coaches.

“I’d say we're really confident,” Nix said. “We're still kind of frustrated after the season we've had, but to finish strong would be great heading into next year.”

The question is whether Nix has shown the growth necessary to lead the Tigers to a victory against the Tide, whose College Football Playoff hopes were renewed Saturday night with No. 6 Oregon losing at unranked Arizona State. The freshman completed 15 of 23 passes for 150 yards and one touchdown in Auburn’s 52-0 victory against Samford. His first five incomplete passes were targets to his favorite receiver, Seth Williams, on deep routes. He misfired on a post route to Shedrick Jackson, but hit Harold Joiner on a pass out of the flat on a play that evoked memories of Nix missing Joiner on what could have been a game-tying pass the previous week in a 21-14 loss to Georgia.

“He's improved a lot,” Williams said. “(Gus) Malzahn always says once you got the first three games under your belt as a freshman, you're not a freshman any more. He's improved a lot on the standpoint of away games, home games. He knows how to take the pressure. There's not a lot of weight on his shoulders anymore. He can deal with it. He's a great quarterback.”

Nix is much better at home than away from Jordan-Hare Stadium, where he’s completing 63.9 percent of his passes and has yet to throw an interception. He completed only 48.5 percent of his passes in five games away from home.

Nix broke the school’s freshman record for completions and tied the passing touchdowns mark (14) in the victory last week against Samford. He can break more records (single-season passing yards, touchdowns) against Alabama. Auburn’s offense, however, is much different against ranked teams. The Tigers average only 20.4 points against teams ranked in the AP poll and 43 points against unranked teams, the largest difference since the Tigers’ 2016 season.

The Iron Bowl will be a much different setting for Nix. The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry was his first taste of a raucous Auburn crowd as the starting quarterback. The Tigers fell behind 21-0 to Georgia before a comeback attempt fell short in a 21-14 loss.

On the line is state pride — and the fact No. 15 Auburn (8-3, 4-3 SEC) can eliminate No. 5 Alabama (10-1, 6-1) from playoff contention.

How does Nix deal with the pressure? He leans on his faith. It's something he shares with backup quarterback Cord Sandberg, who also shares advice after six years on the road as a minor league baseball player. He refers to this life as a "vapor," and only a small part of the journey. Nix and Sandberg agree approaching life as such alleviates the pressure of big games.

“It's been a lot of years building up to now,” Nix said. “The fact that it's actually here, and we'll focus in on this week and work on them and figure out a game plan to move the ball on offense.”

[alexava 6,974]

I think bammer will cheat a safety over Seth and take him away. I hope we have an answer for it. 

[SaltyTiger 8,568]

42 minutes ago, alexava said:

I think bammer will cheat a safety over Seth and take him away. I hope we have an answer for it. 

Thanks Alex, have relayed the info to Gus?

[Dual-Threat Rigby 9,046]

Unless Bama plays zone...no

[alexava 6,974]

21 minutes ago, SaltyTiger said:

Thanks Alex, have relayed the info to Gus?

He said he’s expecting the same thing. 

[SaltyTiger 8,568]

34 minutes ago, alexava said:

He said he’s expecting the same thing. 

Did you offer any answers?

[alexava 6,974]

2 minutes ago, SaltyTiger said:

Did you offer any answers?

Yes. He wrote it down. 

[tigerchris 275]

Bama is the SEC’s backup plan for the playoffs to get a 2nd team in.  We’ll have to play our top game and beat the office/officials too.

[Gowebb11 9,871]

Having faced top defenses like UF and UGA, I do believe the game has slowed down for him a little bit. Bama D is still Bama D, but they cant throw much at BO he hasn’t seen already. 

[AuburnTiger4Life 2,225]

3 hours ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Unless Bama plays zone...no

I could be wrong but I think they do play zone defense? 

[caleb1633 1,421]

2 hours ago, AuburnTiger4Life said:

I could be wrong but I think they do play zone defense? 

Not sure about now, but historically, Saban's base defense is a Cover 1.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 9,046]

4 hours ago, AuburnTiger4Life said:

I could be wrong but I think they do play zone defense? 

Im just making that comment after seeing how UGA allowed us to score playing that style. Even if they play zone, Id run primarily man anyway.

[dyehardfanAU 2,117]

What improvement?

[jAUSon 2,836]

meh

[IronMan70 3,321]

Better stats are fine and improvement is relative. But, will he be able to complete the simple flat pass to Joiner or slant to Williams when the game is on the line ?  That is the question we wait to have answered.

[sevenlee36 1,705]

11 hours ago, alexava said:

I think bammer will cheat a safety over Seth and take him away. I hope we have an answer for it. 

Gus will counter with a drag route right at the line of scrimmage to Schwartz, check mate.