Nix’s Houdini-like 4th-down touchdown

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Inside Bo Nix’s Houdini-like 4th-down touchdown against LSU

Updated: Oct. 03, 2021, 10:57 a.m. | Published: Oct. 03, 2021, 10:57 a.m.

Bo Nix's insane scramble and touchdown pass at LSU

 

 

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By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

Bo Nix didn’t see the end result. He only saw the hair flowing out from under the back of Tyler Fromm’s helmet.

 

The rest was just a blur. Followed by a roar from the south end zone stands. It will be remembered as perhaps the signature play of Nix’s career, and it will go down as one of the most unforgettable — and truly surreal — moments in the already-bizarre lore of the Auburn-LSU rivalry.

 

On fourth-and-2 from the LSU 24-yard line, and with Auburn trailing 13-0 late in the first half, Nix turned into a hybrid backyard gunslinger and Houdini-esque escape artist. He rolled to his right, then scrambled back to his left. He slipped a would-be tackle on the sideline, sidestepped another and planted his feet as he found Fromm streaking into the end zone for one of the most unlikely scores imaginable. It was the catalyst of Auburn’s 24-19 comeback win on the bayou, as the team ended two decades of misery in Death Valley late Saturday night.

 

“To be honest, we didn’t draw it up like that at all,” Fromm said.

 

 

The play-call for Auburn was one of the more aggressive decisions of the night from Harsin and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. After kicking a field goal in a similar situation on the road against Penn State two weeks earlier, Auburn decided to roll the dice in a venue that has, traditionally over the last 20 years, been a house of horrors for the program.

 

 

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The call was a run-in screen to the right side of the field for Fromm, who was blanketed by an LSU defender. The throw wasn’t there, though, and Nix stopped on a dime and ran back to the left side of the field as he escaped a shoestring tackle. He saw running back Jarquez Hunter, who was in the flat, take off on a route downfield to try to create something. At the same time, LSU’s defense was closing in on the junior quarterback, who kept his eyes up throughout the play.

 

He eluded a tackle on the sideline from an LSU defender, then side-stepped another one. As three LSU players barreled down on Nix, he planted his feet and fired a shot toward the end zone. That’s where Fromm was streaking downfield, wide open for the score after breaking off his route in the scrambling effort.

 

 

“Fourth down, anything can happen,” Nix said. “…I saw Tyler Fromm running in the back, I mean, crazy. I’ll never forget the vision I had. I just saw the hair coming out of the back of his helmet, just flopping, running wide-open. I got lucky and threw it; I got the ball out of my hands just fast enough, and he ran under it. I didn’t even seen the ending, so I’ll have to watch that one on video.”

 

 

The catch by Fromm was the first touchdown of his career, as he finished with three receptions for 40 yards. He did not have a reception for his career entering the game, and now he owns one of the biggest in recent program history.

 

 

“It’s just one of those where it kind of got busted,” Fromm said. “I saw him roll out the other way, so I just figured, heck, might as well just start running. And golly, what an effort by him, though. I turned around and I saw him spinning around like three times, and I was just like, ‘There’s no way he’s going to come out of this.’ And sure enough, he comes out of it. And that’s just when the ball was coming my way.”

 

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It was a situation Fromm never could have imagined, and not just because of the circus-like nature of the play, which checked in at No. 2 on SportsCenter’s top-10 plays of the day. After appearing in just one game through his first two years of college, Fromm has seen his role grow as a tight end in Auburn’s new offense. He has been on the field far more often through the first five games, and now he’s becoming more involved in the passing game.

 

 

Still, he never expected his first career touchdown to come like this—in that situation and on the road against LSU as Auburn squashed its 10-game skid on the bayou.

 

 

“Honestly, at this point, I don’t even remember me catching it,” Fromm said. “I don’t remember me celebrating it. It was just a high that I can’t explain.”

 

The play was almost déjà vu for Auburn, and for coach Bryan Harsin. A week after backup quarterback T.J. Finley eluded a pass-rush and found Shedrick Jackson for the go-ahead touchdown on fourth down late against Georgia State, he watched from the sideline as Nix delivered his own brand of fourth-down magic.

 

 

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A week after being benched, Bo Nix responded in a big way for Auburn.

 

 

“You’re watching as the play unfolds, and you know that something had broken down,” Harsin said. “Now you’re at the point where there’s some rules that we put in when those thing happen, but it really comes down to guys have an understanding that, when that does (happen), we’re going to try to be in a certain area. But he’s got to still be able to shake all those defenders and give himself an opportunity to make a throw.”

 

Like Finley did a week earlier, Nix did that — though he turned up the difficulty settings considerably. It was the quintessential Nix play, highlighting his escapability and tendency to freelance when things break down — something he did on the following drive in another fourth-and-2 situation, and several other times throughout the night, as LSU struggled to wrap him up in the backfield.

 

 

Nix finished the night 23-of-44 passing for 255 yards and a touchdown, running for another 74 yards and a score while guiding Auburn to a momentous win.

 

 

“Bo made some things really happen, and that was a difference in the game — just his ability to extend plays, to keep his eyes downfield,” Harsin said. “I’ll just say this: From a quarterback standpoint, that is hard to do when people are bearing down on you. It’s natural to go put your eyes right on what’s right in front of you, but to be able to elude and move and elude and make things happen and keeping your eyes downfield to look to your players that are getting open, and then execute a throw while you’re going through all that, that’s one of the most difficult things to do. Those guys were able to make it.

 

“I think it goes back to the kind of competitors we have on this team and what kind of competitor Bo is. You respond, and you put your team in the best position because you can make plays, and you can extend opportunities like that, and you give your guys a chance to go out and do what we did in this game tonight.”

 

 

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

[IronMan70 3,277]

Thanks 50, I've watched that play about 10 times and it's incredible. The scramble and pass Nix threw on that 4th and 2 to get the 1st down was almost as good. I watched the entire game on replay last night and the game is even better the 2nd time around. What an amazing game.

[fishepa 1,914]

Whenever I see Tom Green's name I think of the ridiculous hat incident during spring practice.  What a tool.