Auburn football: TJ Finley shares what had him prepared to become QB1

Presumed new Auburn football QB1 TJ Finley took a cue from Guns N’ Roses front-man Axl Rose to get to his moment.

“All you need is just a little patience…”

G N’ R lies, but Finley didn’t when he said he was here on the Plains because the starting QB role was something he had his sights set on.

It took just one trait that kept him ready:

The circumstances weren’t ideal from a macro perspective on Saturday afternoon for Auburn football.

AU struggled against a Georgia State rush defense that was run over by both Army (who you know is going to run the minute the clock starts running) and a UNC Tar Heels team who saw Sam Howell collect over 100 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter had merely good games as opposed to the spectacular. Only Finley’s final march down the field–and mostly his Houdini-like escape from what would have been a death knell turnover on downs leading to defeat to find Shedrick Jackson for a go-ahead TD–deserve that label.

Finley puts a ton of rest to bed after Bo Nix took the reigns for the first three games of the season. Nix wasn’t bad against Penn State, but he did nothing spectacular.

Clearly, (conveniently) inserting the LSU transfer into the lineup a week ahead of AU’s trip to Death Valley was the spark that ignited a revolution for the Tigers to make sure they didn’t ultimately overlook Georgia State.

There were trap game vibes coming into this one, but Bryan Harsin didn’t fall for the Panthers’ first-half punch in the face.

Now, next Saturday’s 8pm central time tussle with the Tigers of the Bayou is must-watch, because part of TJ Finley’s patience was his struggles last season on an LSU squad that finished with a losing record.