For Bo Nix, Arkansas is perfectly timed

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Auburn Football

For Bo Nix, Auburn’s annual pig roast of Arkansas is perfectly timed

Updated 9:21 AM; Today 9:21 AM

Auburn quarterback Bo Nix in action before an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020, in Athens, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)AP

By Joseph Goodman | jgoodman@al.com

At some point during Auburn’s 27-6 loss to Georgia, there was a shift from caring about whether the Tigers could win the game to worrying about the safety of quarterback Bo Nix.

Pretty sure it was early in the second quarter.

Nix walked to the sideline after another failed offensive drive, removed his helmet and sat on the bench. He looked rough and maybe a little confused, like someone had taken $50 off him in a back alley behind the local Bowl-o-Rama. The next time Nix stepped onto the field, Auburn was losing 24-0 and Georgia had 268 yards of total offense to Auburn’s 49.

It was already time to abandon the running game, in other words. Game over. Nix survived the night by running for his life. He led Auburn in rushing attempts with 11 on account of being sacked three times.

Put another way, it was a great opportunity to showcase his scrambling ability.

Nix’s passing stats: 21 of 40 for 177 and an interception. Entering the game, he held the school record for most attempts (218) without throwing a pick.

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During the looong wait for this season, I wrote that Nix could be the best quarterback in the SEC in 2020. Perhaps he still can, but after watching Auburn’s offensive line against rival Georgia, an old and tired refrain about quarterbacks under Gus Malzahn is creeping back into the conversation.

Are they all destined to regress in the second year of their careers?

Cam Newton had the one brilliant season for Auburn, but he’s like a unicorn. We’re not going to be comparing anyone to Cam Newton here. It’s also important to note that Gene Chizik was the head coach in 2010, and Malzahn was the offensive coordinator.

Jeremy Johnson was a bust. Sean White flamed out. Malzahn’s best two-year starter at Auburn is Nick Marshall, who currently plays cornerback in the CFL.

Don’t even get me started on John Franklin III.

Jarrett Stadium was breathtaking at times during his redshirt sophomore season, but then looked like a zombie in 2018. Instead of returning to play for Malzahn as a senior, Stidham declared for the NFL Draft.

Now we’re to Nix, who was Alabama’s Mr. Football his senior year of high school and then the SEC Freshman of the Year in 2019. Malzahn’s distressing trend has to change with Nix, or the coach just isn’t going to survive at Auburn. It would crush an entire fanbase to see Nix go the way of Stidham or White.

This game on Saturday against Arkansas was an afterthought less than two weeks ago. Now it’s an enormous opportunity for Nix to fix this season against the recent bottom-feeder of the SEC West that, oh yeah, reportedly tried to hire Malzahn a few years ago.

Last week, Arkansas earned its first victory since 2017 against an SEC opponent. A victory here could settle Auburn’s offense for a tough road ahead. A loss to Arkansas would once again send Auburn into its Gus Malzahn Panic Room after the bullying we all saw in primetime against Georgia. That’s a place no one wants to go during this bizarre season of COVID-19.

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Auburn is a 16.5-point favorite against Arkansas. With Nix at quarterback, the game shouldn’t be close. Some of the most recent scores from Auburn’s annual get together with the Hogs: Auburn 52, Arkansas 20 in 2017; Auburn 34, Arkansas 3 in 2018; Auburn 51, Arkansas 10 in 2019.

Last season, the Tigers rushed for 298 yards in Fayetteville, Arkansas. If ever there was a game for Malzahn and new offensive coordinator Chad Morris (freshly fired by Arkansas) to figure out the running game...

Tigers freshman running back Tank Bigsby had three carries in the third quarter last week against Georgia, and was most effective catching passes out of the backfield in the second half. The loss to Georgia was expected (Auburn was a seven-point underdog), but it’s the way Auburn was manhandled that raises doubts about the Tigers' ability to contend for an SEC championship.

Georgia held Auburn to 3.5 yards per play. The offensive line was exposed, of course, but why exactly can’t Malzahn keep quality running backs in Auburn?

Nix had a superlative freshman season, sure. He led a fourth-quarter comeback against Oregon in his first game of the regular season, and persevered against Alabama in the finale. Here’s the thing, though. Compare Nix’s numbers in the 2019 Iron Bowl (a 48-45 victory for Auburn) to last Saturday’s loss to Georgia.

Against Alabama’s so-so defense last season, Nix was 15 of 30 for 173 yards and a second-quarter touchdown throw to Sal Cannella. The difference was Auburn’s running game. Everyone remembers the devastating hit that Shaun Shivers delivered to Alabama safety Xavier McKinney, but that was Shivers' only carry of the night. Boobee Whitlow rushed for 116 yards on 16 carries (7.1 yards per).

Whitlow, after leading Auburn in rushing two seasons in a row, left the team and is now at Western Illinois waiting to play football in the spring. Could someone please explain that decision to me? The year before it was running back Asa Martin who left the program.

There was a time when Auburn was known nationally as Running Back U. That’s all gone now, unfortunately. Maybe this freshman they call Tank can bring some of that back.

Auburn’s offense has scored no more than 14 points against Georgia since the 2017 SEC championship game, but it always finds its way against Arkansas. Georgia came early this year, and so does the heat on Malzahn. It’s either time for the annual pig roast, or that yearly tradition of cranking up the gas under Malzahn’s … pants.

Joseph Goodman is a columnist for the Alabama Media Group. He’s on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr.