Even with so many changes since Auburn defeated Oregon on Aug. 31, 2019, some things have remained the same.
Bo Nix throwing the ball to Seth Williams was as strong as ever.
In the Oregon game, Williams had four receptions for 41 yards and a touchdown.
Against the Wildcats, Williams exploded for six receptions, 112 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
“Seth is always a guy that will go up and make a catch for you, he’ll go up and make plays, and he’s an explosive guy, he can go up and get it,” Nix said. “Today, we just put him in positions to do that, and he went up and got the ball and made two great catches. At the same time, he took a lot of those underneath routes and made guys miss and got good yardage after catch. So that was really good. Looking forward to him moving forward.”
While both touchdowns required strong plays by both Nix and Williams, it was the second touchdown where Williams made a play over Kentucky’s Kelvin Joseph to come down with the ball.
“The second one, down in the end zone in the corner, I seen that he was playing a little inside leverage, so I gave him some and stuck outside,” Williams said. “Bo threw a great ball up top, and I got a chance to make a play on it.”
Nix put together a strong performance himself, completing 16-of-27 passes for 233 yards and three touchdowns along with five carries for 34 yards.
In the offseason, Auburn was expecting Nix to take a step forward for his sophomore season, and at least through one game, he seemed to do so.
The quarterback looked more comfortable in the pocket, stepping up and escaping when needed, and choosing to stick it out and wait for routes to develop at other times.
Nix had four new offensive linemen ahead of him, and Auburn even opted to plug in Keiondre Jones for Tashawn Manning and Austin Troxell for Alec Jackson.
But that didn’t phase him, as he remained in a rhythm nearly all game.
“Yes sir, I thought from the start,” Nix said. “I got a few completions to begin the game, and then that kind of got us just rolling … I thought in the second half I was in rhythm and did a good job of making completions, and the receivers did a great job of getting open and catching the ball.”
The Auburn offense, now led by Chad Morris, leaned heavily on Nix, as the Tigers passed the ball 27 times and carried it just 16 times for 91 yards.
No. 8 Auburn (1-0) travels to Athens, Georgia, next Saturday to take on No. 4 Georgia (1-0). The game will be at 6:30 p.m. CST and will be on ESPN.
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