Bo Nix lost some of his ‘swag’ last season

[aubiefifty 18,231]

Bo Nix had every reason to swagger into his freshman season at Auburn.

He was the reigning Alabama Mr. Football and a back-to-back state champion coming out of high school, not to mention a five-star recruit. When he won the starting job on the Plains, beating out Malik Willis and Joey Gatewood for the title of QB1, he became the first true freshman to start at quarterback for Auburn in the modern era.

But between adjusting to college, battling for that starting job, trying to earn the respect of his new teammates and attempting to be a leader in his first year, Nix lost some of that belief in himself during his freshman season. It was a year in which he oscillated between very good (a game-winning touchdown in the opener against Oregon, a strong performance in the Iron Bowl against Alabama) and at times sub-par (three costly interceptions in a loss at Florida and a troubling performance in a loss to LSU) while still being named the SEC Freshman of the Year.

“Through all that, I lost my confidence in a way, lost my swag, and I wasn’t kind of the same person I was in high school when I did have that confidence,” Nix said on a recent appearance on the “Marty Smith’s America” podcast.

 

Nix finished the season completing 217-of-377 passes for 2,542 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions, but his 6.7 yards per pass attempt and his 57.6 percent completion rate were both 88th among qualifying FBS quarterbacks. He also rushed for 313 yards and seven touchdowns on the year as Auburn finished 9-4, with all four losses against ranked opponents.

 

“First of all, if we’re real with ourselves, as a true freshman quarterback, he played the toughest schedule in college football maybe in the last 10 years,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "IF you really look at the schedule, if you look at the road games he had to do. So, yeah, any freshman quarterback would have had tough times. I was impressed that he held things together as good as he did, because it was extremely challenging. When you’re a quarterback at a place like Auburn or a top SEC school, there’s unbelievable pressure that goes with that.

“The highs are high; the lows are low. At times, he lost his confidence to a certain point, but he’s a fighter. He kept fighting.”

 

[McLoofus 35,182]

Crazy how many QBs have had that happen the last 5 seasons.

[Win4AU 4,182]

Probably occurred around this time.