The players club: 'Calm and poised' Bo Nix playing his best football

When Bo Nix was benched against Georgia State, it was undoubtedly the lowest point of his career. The Auburn legacy and two-year starter entering the season just wasn’t moving the offense.

There were many issues, but as Bryan Harsin said at the time, the Tigers’ offense simply needed a spark.

Since that game, Nix has played some of his best football of his career. Auburn has beaten LSU and Arkansas on the road, with a loss to No. 1 Georgia sandwiched between. Bo Nix’s performance against Arkansas was the best road-game performance of his career. He finished the game 21-of-26 passing for 292 yards and two touchdowns. His 23-yard rushing touchdown was the longest of his career.

Bo Nix was magical against LSU. He made enough plays to keep Auburn in the game against Georgia, but didn’t get much help. Against Georgia, it was a collective effort that allowed Nix to shine early and often, and the run game to shine late.

[The final word: Bryan Harsin ‘proud’ of his team’s comeback]

“We talked this week about making sure we have an identity in the running game,” Bo Nix said. “Throughout the game, we made some explosive plays, but at the end, we wanted to run the ball and take up as much time as possible. I was happy for the guys and the O-line did a good job of getting a hat on a hat. They knew that was what we were tying to do and we made the other team tackle us.”

So, did something change for Nix after that benching during the Georgia State game?

“I don’t think anything has changed,” Nix said. “Georgia State, as a whole offense, wasn’t sharp coming off that loss at Penn State, but nothing has really changed. I’m the same focused player. Competing is the major factor in my game. When I compete and desire the ball, that’s when I’m at my best. Our team would obviously agree.”

Demetris Robertson sees a slight difference.

“He’s more calm and poised in the pocket, just getting used to the offense,” Robertson said. “(Bo) is really, really, really, really great at scrambling, but he has a great arm as well. He’s being poised and settling in, and doing what he does.”

And it’s no secret what edge defender Derick Hall thinks of Nix. Hall tweeted that Nix was “our quarterback” awhile back, and absolutely nothing has changed.

“Bo’s a competitor. He’s a great guy. He loves football and hates losing,” Hall said. “That’s what we expect out of him. He knows what it means to be an Auburn man and knows what it means to play quarterback at Auburn. He loves Auburn and wants to win. He’s going to keep getting better. That’s our quarterback and we stand behind him. We have to keep pushing along and keep him up.”

‘It was the play of the game’

Arkansas was leading 17-14 in the third quarter after 14 unanswered points. Following a 57-yard punt by Auburn’s Oscar Chapman that gave Arkansas starting field position at the 11-yard line, the Auburn defense was reeling and desperately needed a stop, and did they ever come through.

Backed up against their own endzone, Hall rushed around the end and sacked K.J. Jefferson, forcing the fumble. Zakoby McClain and Marcus Harris ran after the ball, with Harris jumping on it for a touchdown. It gave Auburn a 21-17 lead and the Tigers never trailed again.

“It was the play of the game,” Nix said. “Our sideline, we had energy in the beginning, but that play was huge. It got us the lead, the field back shortened, and we got some fire back to us. That carried us throughout the game and into the fourth quarter.”

Hall, who finished the game with six tackles, a sack and tackle for loss, didn’t even know he stripped Jefferson of the football.

“We knew we were backed up. I didn’t think it was a strip sack, I thought it was a normal sack. I knew I pinned the hip on the tomahawk, but I never did see the ball,” Hall said.

“It was a good play, good call by coach blitzing,” McClain said. “Derick came around and got the strip sack, I saw the ball, but I had to give it to my brother because I love him.”

Hall praised the team’s attitude when the chips seemed down.

“The sideline was calm and collective. We don’t flinch. That’s our motto. We stay together and stay a fist. We’re all we got and all we need. Adversity can strike at any moment. To stay together and execute, our approach was huge.”

The three drives prior to that fumble, Auburn punted twice and threw an interception. After that fumble recovery, Auburn racked up 221 yards on four drives, scoring 17 points. And the Auburn defense after that fumble recovery forced two Arkansas punts and a turnover on downs in three of the Razorbacks’ final four drives.

Best of the rest from the Tigers

Nix on his 23-yard rushing touchdown to seal the game: It’s one of those plays that we’ve run before. We got the look earlier, had to correct some things. And we knew we wanted to get half of it back. We knew basically what we’d be in. He told me to go win the game and that’s what I did.

Robertson on the better day from the pass catchers: Focusing on the little details, the fundamentals. The Georgia game was a game for us to get on top of the things we needed to work on. The Arkansas game was the game to solidify that for ourselves and keep building chemistry with the quarterback. Repetition. Fundamentals. We went over plays and plays, until we got it right. That’s what we did in practice.

Hall on the defense making adjustments as the game went on: Coming in, we knew he would get out and we’d have gaps open. That was critical during the first half. We came in, made adjustments to contain him better, and better rush. We bought in together knowing we had the defensive front that could get the job done. If we can put that together for the whole game, we can be hard to beat.

Other important factors for Auburn

McClain finished the game with 15 tackles. Wooten finished with 10.

Tank Bigsby still hasn’t rushed for 100 yards since the Penn State game.

Eku Leota and Colby Wooden have seven tackles for loss, and Hall has six. Leota and Hall lead the team in sacks with four each.

Individual notes

Bo Nix now ranks 4^th in career passing yards at Auburn with 6,445 yards, passing Pat Sullivan (6,284 from 1969-71); next is Brandon Cox (6,959 from 2004-07).

Derick Hall forced the fumble in the endzone that Marcus Harris recovered for a touchdown. It was Hall’s first forced fumble and Harris’ first fumble recovery.

Zakoby McClain records his 11^th career game with double-figure tackles and Chandler Wooten records his third double-figure tackle game.