Bryan Harsin enters his first SEC game as the head coach of the Auburn football and most coaches would preach about keeping distractions low going into a matchup of this magnitude. Unfortunately, Harsin finds himself in the middle of a media storm regarding Auburn Football after firing WR coach Cornelius Williams on Sunday along with the controversial decision to bench Bo Nix last weekend. Things only complicated for Harsin after Finley led the Tigers to a comeback win over Georgia State and looked much more impressive than his counterpart in Bo Nix.
Now the question remains as gameday inches closer by the hour: Who will Auburn start at quarterback in Death Valley this weekend?
The answer may appear to be simple for some, but for Harsin this decision could impact his career trajectory as the HC for Auburn Football. Looking ahead, a wrong move here could end in a loss and with games against #2 Georgia, #8 Arkansas, #12 Ole Miss, & #15 Texas A&M on the horizon; Harsin could be staring at an absolute catastrophe if he botches this decision.
For myself, the answer is clear: TJ Finley should lead the Tigers on their first drive on Saturday night in Death Valley. But for others, Bo Nix has done enough over his first three seasons to retain his job this weekend. Some have also called for a 2-QB system this weekend, which Harsin has run in the past at Boise State.
If you look at the stat box last weekend against Georgia State, it might be easy to assume that Bo Nix and TJ Finley played similar games and neither separated themselves, but taking a deeper dive reveals a much different story.
The #1 difference between TJ Finley and Bo Nix this past weekend was their play under pressure. This will be an important factor this weekend, because LSU leads the SEC in sacks (18) and also have the SEC sack leader in BJ Ojulari (5). Auburn’s offensive line has been inconsistent at best this season, so having a QB who can handle the pressure is going to be a key to this game
Last weekend, Bo Nix went 2-for-9 for 10 yards passing and averaged 1.1 yards per attempt when under pressure, which resulted in a 33.3 PFF passing grade for Nix. On the other hand, TJ Finley went 6-for-8 for 68 yards passing, 1 TD, & averaged over 8.5 yards per attempt, which resulted in a 92.1 PFF passing grade when under pressure. Finley also led the only TD drive for the Tigers last weekend and injected a different level of energy in a stagnant team, which cannot be understated.
The other narrative surrounding the Auburn community is that if TJ Finley was good enough; he would have started at LSU and not transferred. This is the laziest take for a fanbase who has built their success on the backs of transfers in recent history. Cam Newton (Florida), Nick Marshall (Georgia), Jarrett Stidham (Baylor), Corey Grant (Alabama), & let’s not forget the 10+ players this season who transferred into this program from around the country (Including Finley). It is also ironic that Auburn is preparing to face a LSU program whose greatest player in school history was a QB transfer from Ohio State, in Joe Burrow.
Can Auburn win this game with either QB on Saturday? Potentially, but I think the energy Finley brought to both sides of the ball along with delivering in the biggest moment last weekend was enough to earn this starting job against the school who thought he was not good enough.
Will Finley keep the starting job moving forward? That is completely reliant on how he performs this weekend and in the following weeks against the elite SEC competition on this schedule. Bryan Harsin made a statement this past weekend that everyone has to earn their spot on this team. Finley earned his by saving the season for Auburn Football last weekend and that is why Finley is the obvious choice to lead the Tigers into a tough SEC matchup in Death Valley on Saturday night.