After first-year head coach Bryan Harsin benched quarterback Bo Nix versus Georgia State and replaced him with LSU transfer TJ Finley, the Auburn football community has been a whirlwind of speculation.
Harsin refused to name the starter for Saturday’s matchup on the road in Death Valley, but Bo Nix remained listed as QB1 on the official depth chart. Whether he will start for the Tigers on Saturday remains to be seen, and Harsin isn’t giving away any hints.
While it would be unsurprising for many to see Nix as the starter against LSU, a large number of fans seem to have lost faith in the third-year starter. To make things even more complicated, naming TJ Finley as QB1 would mean his first start in orange and blue would be against his former teammates.
According to FanSided, going up against LSU is truly what is holding Bryan Harsin back from naming Finley as the starter:
"However, there is one big concern regarding Finley. Even though Nix has struggled mightily on the road in his Auburn career, Finley only transferred over from LSU after last season. He knows the Bayou Bengals, but they know him."
Auburn football could certainly face trouble from LSU this weekend. After all, Auburn hasn’t won a game in Death Valley since 1999 and the Bayou Bengals currently lead the league in sacks. Nix’s road stats aren’t great, but starting for the first time on the road at night at Death Valley against former teammates is a huge deal.
FanSided author John Buhler believes that if the Auburn Tigers were facing any other opponent this weekend, Finley would be the starter for sure:
"Given how things ended last week, it would not be shocking to see Finley make his first career start for Auburn against the team he played for. Had Auburn been going up against any other team outside of LSU, the answer would be Finley."
The starter will remain unknown until Saturday when the Tiger Bowl kicks off at 8:00 pm central time from Baton Rouge, Lousiana.