Auburn benches quarterback Bo Nix

Entering the 2021 season, Auburn quarterback Bo Nix seemed poised for a breakout year, with the Tigers returning plenty of talent on the offensive side and hiring a new head coach in Bryan Harsin. Through the first two games, that seemed to hold true — but two games later, Auburn has benched Nix in favor of sophomore quarterback TJ Finley, who checked into the game in the fourth quarter, with Auburn trailing Georgia State 24-19.

Nix finished the game completing 13 of 27 passing attempts for 156 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. Now, Finley will be tasked with pulling Auburn back from the brink of a disastrous loss to Georgia State.

Nix, the 2019 SEC Freshman of the Year, came into Auburn from Pinson Valley High School (Alabama) as a five-star quarterback, one of the top-ranked signal callers in the nation. He had an immediate impact his freshman year, as he became the first true freshman quarterback to start a season opener for Auburn since 1946, and threw for 2,542 yards and 16 touchdowns, with just six interceptions. Additionally, Nix tacked on another 313 yards on the ground, rushing for seven touchdowns. Though the 2020 Auburn Tigers went just 6-5 his sophomore year, resulting in then-head coach Gus Malzahn being fired, Nix put up a somewhat comparable statline to his freshman year; he threw for 2,415 yards in two fewer games due to the abbreviated season, and he threw for 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Nix got off to a terrific start in the first two games of the year. He completed a cumulative 29 of his 39 passing attempts for 383 passing yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions, while also rushing for 30 yards. However, it’s worth noting that those two-straight 60-plus-point performances from Auburn’s offense came against Akron and Alabama State. Nix didn’t look like the same quarterback in Week 3 against a ranked Penn State team, throwing for 185 yards and no touchdowns.

Finley, Nix’s replacement, is a 6-foot-7, 246-pound sophomore from Ponchatoula, Louisiana. He transferred from LSU to Auburn this offseason, after in 2020 throwing for 941 yards, five touchdowns and five interceptions. Formerly a three-star quarterback recruit from Ponchatoula High School, he started five games last year for LSU. In high school, Finley was a three-year starter for Ponchatoula High School, and he accounted for 72 touchdowns during his high school career — 58 passing touchdowns and 14 rushing touchdowns.