It is no secret that since he was benched midway through Auburn’s game against Georgia State, Bo Nix has been a man on a mission.
Nix has taken his overall level of play up to a second gear, a gear Auburn fans might have thought was unreachable.
Nix always knew he was, and is, a competitor. His love for competition and adversity has come out since that fateful game. And Nix is ready to win some more.
“At the end of the day, I am competing at a high level,” Nix said. “I am confident and trusting in myself. I am trusting what I see, trusting my feet. I just want to go out there and do whatever I have to do to get our team to win."
Since his benching, Auburn has gone on the road and defeated LSU and then-ranked No. 17 Arkansas, falling to only the nation’s No. 1 team, Georgia, at home in between.
Nix has completed almost 61% of his passes in the past three games and has added highlight-reel-worthy plays on his feet. Almost overnight, it seemed like Nix rediscovered his game.
That game he found? Being a dual-threat quarterback.
“I am happy my coaches allow me to run the ball and get in my element and do what I'm good at,” Nix said. “It is very valuable for our offense because it gives us another dimension."
Nix’s legs have been Auburn’s secret weapon in the team’s last two wins.
Against LSU, Nix used his scrambling ability to run circles around the LSU defense and create plays out of nothing. Nix scrambled for almost 11 seconds on a busted fourth down play and created a score out of it.
In the victory over the Razorbacks, Nix was second on the team in rushing, adding a late third-down conversion and score on his legs to ice a victory over the home team in their homecoming game.
“I just know it provides an extra weapon at the end of a game when I can throw and run,” Nix said.
Nix said that his legs give way to all aspects of the offensive game, and have helped Auburn to victory in games where not many outside the Auburn locker room thought the team would win.
"If our offense can run the ball effectively, it opens up our passing game. It is important I run the ball well,” Nix said.
Nix’s passing has been special as well. Outside of one errant interception and two drops, Nix had a near-perfect game passing against Arkansas.
The signal-caller threw for 292 yards, two scores while completing 21-26 passes. It took Nix well into the second quarter to record his first incompletion, and that pass was a throwaway.
Looking ahead to No. 10 Ole Miss, Nix said there is nothing and no one, in particular, he is keying against on the Rebel defense. Nix has been in these games before.
Since being at Auburn, Nix has never lost to The University of Mississippi.
“They do a good job of bringing some pressures, try to disrupt the quarterback,” Nix said of Ole Miss. “We just got to do a good job of communicating, get our eyes up and seeing things.”
When kickoff happens at 6 p.m. CT in Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn fans will be decked out in orange or in their best Halloween costumes. Two of the SEC West’s best teams will take the field on a late October Saturday.
Nix said he will remember the advice his father, Pat, always gives him when he takes his first snap.
“Your eyes, and feet, are the most important parts of playing football,” Nix said.
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Henry Zimmer is from Jacksonville, Florida, and is currently in his fifth year with The Plainsman. He is currently the Sports Reporter and can be followed on Twitter here: @henryzimmer
