Can Bo shake off road game woes?

[aubiefifty 17,488]

Can Bo Nix shake off road game woes at Penn State?

Glenn Sattell | 22 hours ago

4-5 minutes

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OK, the cupcakes have been properly digested, the confidence-building rent-a-wins are securely in the books. It’s showtime! And that means it’s time for Bo Nix to go on the road against a Top 25 team and have a big game. It’s time for Nix to silence his critics once and for all.

Sure that’s easier said than done and though the No. 22 Tigers rolled up 60-plus points in back-to-back games for the first time since 1932, we still don’t really know how good this Auburn team is that surrounds Nix. We’re going to find out Saturday when the Tigers visit No. 10 Penn State.

It’ll be the first time Auburn has faced the Nittany Lions during the regular season. The teams have met twice, both times in bowl games before these players entered grade school.

For the Tigers to maintain their hot start, Nix must shake off his road game woes and play like we’ve seen him at Jordan-Hare. Again, easier said than done.

Nix has played in 12 games away from Jordan-Hare in 2-plus years as Auburn’s starting quarterback. His numbers are cringe-worthy. He’s never thrown for 300 yards on the road, and his career-high for TD throws is 3, a figure he’s reached just once.

In 2019, his freshman season, Nix recorded a quarterback rating of 112.76 in 6 road games.

For reference, that rating today would rank 95th among QBs nationally.

Most thought those numbers would improve in 2020, but that’s not what happened. Nix digressed and he posted a QB rating of 106.56 away from Jordan-Hare.

Where would that rank today? Try 99th nationally.

How does that compare with his rating in home games? Well, Nix compiled a mediocre 133.68 rating his freshman year. But as would be expected, he improved the following year to 155.05. In 2 games this season Nix has a QB rating of 199.17, which ranks 5th in the nation.

It’s a minor miracle that the Tigers were able to actually win 5 of those 12 road games. But Auburn has won only twice in the past 8 road/neutral games; both were last season and both in the state of Mississippi. Auburn defeated Mississippi State, 24-10, despite Nix completing just 15-of-42 passes for 125 yards and topped Ole Miss, 35-28, with Nix throwing for 238 yards (23-of-30).

It was 1 of only 4 road games in which Nix has thrown for more than 200 yards. That’s the kind of performance Auburn needs to see from Nix on Saturday if the Tigers hope to spring the upset.

But there may be light at the end of the tunnel. Nix’s most recent game away from home was perhaps his best, at least statistically. Auburn was hammered by Northwestern, 35-19, in last year’s Citrus Bowl, but Nix put up fairly impressive numbers. He threw for 292 yards, a career-high away from Jordan-Hare. He completed 25-of-42 passes (59.5 percent). He threw 1 touchdown and did not toss a pick.

Let’s hope that game started a trend for Nix toward coming out from under the dark cloud that hovers over him whenever the Tigers venture away from home. With Tank Bigsby to lean on in the backfield, it will be interesting to see just how head coach Bryan Harsin devises the game plan Saturday. Does he trust him enough to put the game on his shoulders? Or do we see another heavy dose of Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter?

Penn State’s pass defense has given up 411 yards in 2 games and ranks no better than 68th nationally against the pass. Let’s see if Nix can take advantage.

Can’t wait.

[lost 452]

This is my biggest concern for Sat nite. Qb play is ( for me ) a bigger question at this point than OL play. 
Compared to the last 2 years the O L looks totally different. Even against our cupcakes our running game was being stuffed for loses and little to no gain putting us in 3rd and long situations. This years there has been holes and the opposing DL has been pushed backwards

But Bo has fumbled, been still inaccurate at times. His 4th down booboo at the goal line showed once again his lack of concentration when frustration sets in. Now he has at times (as last year ) been on the money with his throws and it seems his footwork is much better and he may be more comfortable in the pocket.

But will Bo be affected once again like the Florida game? Can he settle himself mentally and trust his teammates?  Does he trust his coaches now and does his team and coaches trust him?

At times Bo has lived up to his athletic prowess and proved capable to be a top notch sec qb .  At times he looks lost .  Hopefully this year he becomes the Bo Nix we believe He can be and that maturation begins in earnest Saturday Night.

 

 

 

 

[woodford 3,688]

9 minutes ago, lost said:

This is my biggest concern for Sat nite. Qb play is ( for me ) a bigger question at this point than OL play. 
Compared to the last 2 years the O L looks totally different. Even against our cupcakes our running game was being stuffed for loses and little to no gain putting us in 3rd and long situations. This years there has been holes and the opposing DL has been pushed backwards

But Bo has fumbled, been still inaccurate at times. His 4th down booboo at the goal line showed once again his lack of concentration when frustration sets in. Now he has at times (as last year ) been on the money with his throws and it seems his footwork is much better and he may be more comfortable in the pocket.

But will Bo be affected once again like the Florida game? Can he settle himself mentally and trust his teammates?  Does he trust his coaches now and does his team and coaches trust him?

At times Bo has lived up to his athletic prowess and proved capable to be a top notch sec qb .  At times he looks lost .  Hopefully this year he becomes the Bo Nix we believe He can be and that maturation begins in earnest Saturday Night.

 

 

 

 

Well said. I feel better about this game than I did last September, but still plenty to worry about and your said it all above. Could be a tremendous step forward for Bo.

 

I mentioned this in a different thread but this could be a draft stock game for so many players. The CFB world will be watching this game. 

[WalkingCarpet 1,379]

52 minutes ago, lost said:

This is my biggest concern for Sat nite. Qb play is ( for me ) a bigger question at this point than OL play. 
Compared to the last 2 years the O L looks totally different. Even against our cupcakes our running game was being stuffed for loses and little to no gain putting us in 3rd and long situations. This years there has been holes and the opposing DL has been pushed backwards

But Bo has fumbled, been still inaccurate at times. His 4th down booboo at the goal line showed once again his lack of concentration when frustration sets in. Now he has at times (as last year ) been on the money with his throws and it seems his footwork is much better and he may be more comfortable in the pocket.

But will Bo be affected once again like the Florida game? Can he settle himself mentally and trust his teammates?  Does he trust his coaches now and does his team and coaches trust him?

At times Bo has lived up to his athletic prowess and proved capable to be a top notch sec qb .  At times he looks lost .  Hopefully this year he becomes the Bo Nix we believe He can be and that maturation begins in earnest Saturday Night.

Good points all around. The one thing we have going for us this time is a head coach and OC with a clue. Harsin and Bobo won't call the same plays over and over when he's flailing around and we now have a backup who can come in if things are really bad. We're going to see designed rollouts, tight end dump offs, and of course a heavy dose of 4, 8 (if available), and 27. 

[W.E.D 11,070]

28 minutes ago, WalkingCarpet said:

The one thing we have going for us this time is a head coach and OC with a clue. Harsin and Bobo won't call the same plays over and over

I've really like the 1st two game Bobo called.  If we executed better last week, we'd have been up 35+ at half time and been hyping the s*** out of the offense again.  We've had WRs open and finding space pretty consistently.

I'd expect Bobo to call another good game this weekend and put all of our players in a better position to succeed.  That alone should help all of our players do better on the road.  Bo especially.  I'm really looking forward to this test for our staff and players.

[Old fan 47 777]

5 hours ago, W.E.D said:

I've really like the 1st two game Bobo called.  If we executed better last week, we'd have been up 35+ at half time and been hyping the s*** out of the offense again.  We've had WRs open and finding space pretty consistently.

I'd expect Bobo to call another good game this weekend and put all of our players in a better position to succeed.  That alone should help all of our players do better on the road.  Bo especially.  I'm really looking forward to this test for our staff and players.

I believe this will tell us everything we need to know about Bo. If he is truly to ever become a top 3 or so SEC QB, then this is the game it needs to happen. I expect a really good game and if Bo’s true talent shows, then we have a good chance. PSU is going to stack for the run and make Bo and our WR’s beat them, which is possible. With that said, i am nervous about this one. It could go a very long way as a statement or keep us right where we are. I agree, I like Bobo’s play calling this far, but this is a very different scenario. If we ARE able to run on them as Wis didn’t at 57 attempts averaging 3.1 or so yards per carry, then this could be a real statement game. Just my thoughts. 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,841]

Our pass blocking was good vs A&M and LSU and...decent against Florida his first year. I think it was bad against UGA, but I can't remember it being too horrid in the other road games that season 

I say that to say pass blocking shouldn't be what sinks him...receivers dropping TDs, poor run blocking, him maybe getting antsy if there's offensive frustration like the end of the first half....well 

[W.E.D 11,070]

3 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Our pass blocking was good vs A&M and LSU and...decent against Florida his first year. I think it was bad against UGA, but I can't remember it being too horrid in the other road games that season 

I say that to say pass blocking shouldn't be what sinks him...receivers dropping TDs, poor run blocking, him maybe getting antsy if there's offensive frustration like the end of the first half....well 

Not sure about Home/Away, but we got a lot worse from 19-20 according to PFF.  Went from like 30th to 75th ranked OL.  Bo didn't help himself at all when he had a clean pocket, so it isn't all on the OL.  He's seemed to stay in the pocket a little better and slide up a few times vs old bad habits.

PSU will be a different beast and tell us a lot.  I don't expect him to be perfect.  He's still going to instinctively default to his athleticism at times and roll out.  Hopefully it's just at the right times.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,841]

22 minutes ago, W.E.D said:

Not sure about Home/Away, but we got a lot worse from 19-20 according to PFF.  Went from like 30th to 75th ranked OL.  Bo didn't help himself at all when he had a clean pocket, so it isn't all on the OL.  He's seemed to stay in the pocket a little better and slide up a few times vs old bad habits.

PSU will be a different beast and tell us a lot.  I don't expect him to be perfect.  He's still going to instinctively default to his athleticism at times and roll out.  Hopefully it's just at the right times.

is that just pass blocking or the OL overall? I feel like they were about worse run blocking in 2020 (Tank was just way better than our 2019 options). I can't really think of why it'd be that much of a drop other than not having more gimme games for the OL to pad their performances, but I know that UGA game was a historically bad display per PFF (NW was also comparably as bad from the eye test) 

Edited September 14, 2021 by Dual-Threat Rigby

[W.E.D 11,070]

11 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

is that just pass blocking or the OL overall? I feel like they were about worse run blocking in 2020 (Tank was just way better than our 2019 options). I can't really think of why it'd be that much of a drop other than not having more gimme games for the OL to pad their performances, but I know that UGA game was a historically bad display per PFF (NW was also comparably as bad from the eye test) 

Not sure, but it was ranked against everyone, so no one was playing "gimmie" games.  So should be relatively similar comparison

[jAUSon 2,836]

Nix is a good enough qb for this game. They should have the offense in silent play-call mode and should game-plan ways to keep Bo from bogging down, keep him from playing hero ball. 

I expect nothing less. 

Bo can only stand in a pocket if and when game-flow makes a pocket. If he spends the whole night in 3rd and long with vanilla one-read pass plays for emergency 3rd down conversions, it's over for him and Auburn. Thankfully- whether good or bad, Mike BoBo is a professional OC rather than an idiot savant. 

[BigBlueWDE 1,136]

I just don't think Gus had the right formula for road games. It wasn't as much of a Bo problem as it was a Gus problem. I'm really, really hoping that this staff has a better road game plan than the previous staff.