The young, baby-faced gunslinger has aged before Tiger fans' eyes. Forged by the fires of SEC play, Auburn quarterback Bo Nix had to mature fast to keep the Auburn Tigers afloat in the brutal conference. Nix has piloted this Auburn team to a 7-1 record, but how well has he played? Is Nix fulfilling the promise that his 5-star recruiting rating held?
Auburn's record under Nix speaks for itself. Any Auburn fan would've taken a 7-1, with the team's only loss coming at "The Swamp" to a top-10 Florida team. How much of the record is indicative of Nix's stats as a quarterback?
Through seven games this year, Nix has thrown for 1301 passing yards and a 56.2 completion percentage. For comparison, Jarrett Stidham threw for 1510 yards and a 65.4 completion percentage through his first seven games in an Auburn uniform.
The stats are relatively close, with the nod going to Stidham; however, when you consider Nix is a true freshman, the difference is expected.
Nix is averaging 185.9 yards per game through the air, as well. While the stats aren't jumping off the page, it's been enough to get the job done for Auburn this season.
A daunting defense and a stable of running backs has allowed Nix to lean on either unit at times; a young quarterback's best friends.
Nix will need to do more, if Auburn wants to make a push for the playoffs. Fundamentally, he still isn't polished and has a lot of room to improve. Nix has tendencies to not set his feet and abandon the basic fundamentals, when the play breaks down. Again, these can be expected from a young quarterback.
Bo Nix appears to be on the right track in developing his passing game. He doesn't have flashy stats, but he has an important stat, wins. He can improve and it appears he will improve, if he continues to build upon his game each week.
Auburn will need Nix to take a big step forward this week as the Tigers travel to Death Valley, where Auburn hasn't won in 20 years, to take on LSU. Nix's improvement will be pivotal for Auburn to pull off an upset this weekend, as it will be tough to rely on the defense in a matchup against Heisman candidate Joe Burrow and the LSU offense.
Solutions by The State News
