AUBURN, Ala. (EETV) – On Saturday, Auburn lost to No. 10 Penn State 28-20, and Auburn fans everywhere rushed to their social media platforms to start putting the blame on Bo Nix.
Some blamed the incompletions, some blamed the fact he did not throw any touchdowns and the ones who have been voicing their disappointment in Nix since the end of last season continued their complaints.
They refuse to bring up how good that Penn State defense actually is.
This is the same thing that happened in 2018, when everyone wanted to blame Jarrett Stidham for the poor season when that offensive line was one of the worst in Auburn history and caused a down year for Stidham.
On Saturday, Bo Nix threw for 185 yards and while he had some throws that got away from him, he didn’t turn over the ball. In an environment like Happy Valley, the loudest stadium in college football, Bo Nix did not turn the ball over, but he received a lot of blame for a game where he played pretty well considering his history in away games.
I don’t think Nix is an all-time great, but no one can deny that he has improved. Nix is the best quarterback on the roster, and this is a team that is fresh off their head coach getting fired and learning a whole new offensive scheme.
There are so many factors that go into losing a football game. Auburn being down their two best defensive players in the second half: Owen Pappoe (injury) and Zakoby McClain (bogus targeting call), and then there was the Kobe Hudson fumble in the second that gave Penn State that great field position. Plus, the fact that Auburn could not get any pressure on Sean Clifford throughout the entire game.
Bo Nix’s play wasn’t what cost Auburn the game—the other factors greatly outweigh his performance. No quarterback in the history of football has ever played a perfect game. Could Bo have played better? Yes. Did he play bad? No. Does he deserve to be blamed for the loss? No.
Auburn fans also need to stop expecting 10-to-12-win seasons every year. This is a rebuilding year for Auburn, and people need to understand not every coach is going to have a season like 2013 in their first year. Give Bryan Harsin a few years at Auburn, then start raising expectations.
