Worst case scenario is a fitting description of what occurred in Mississippi State’s dramatic comeback Week 11 victory over Auburn football.
The Tigers were up 28-10 at halftime, holding a lead as high as 25 at one point, but were ultimately defeated by multiple scores against an unranked team on their home turf.
Auburn football QB Bo Nix was not shy about something he noticed as the lead began to slip away under the afternoon sun: a lack of energy in the Jordan-Hare Stadium stands.
Nix pointed that out in the post-game media scrum:
Here was Bo Nix's full quote earlier about what happened in the second half.
— Jordan D. Hill (@JordanDavisHill) November 13, 2021
Saw some chatter about it based on the opening snippet I was able to tweet out: pic.twitter.com/bt0xyfYQbi
And, as is usually the case when talking about Nix, some fans were with him while some were against him.
Some fans took offense to the idea of Nix calling out the fans and not taking more personal responsibility:
Wow! So it’s the fans fault??? How about personal accountability! #BringOnFinley #WarEagle
— 🚕 Ashley Perkins 🚕 (@AshleyPerkins89) November 13, 2021
He blames everybody but himself every single time. When does he graduate??
— Connor Kelley 🐅 🦅 🦚 (@CubeRobsSoul) November 13, 2021
I'm sorry, WHAT?!?The fans are the problem?? https://t.co/AcBODAeryb pic.twitter.com/6sroXBbB2N
— Mrs. JessVan (@Poli_Sci_Mom) November 13, 2021
Meanwhile, other Tiger fans understood Nix’s point of view, likewise taking aim at those that left the stadium at halftime:
Folks can get up in arms about Bo saying this all they want but it’s 100% true. Jumped out to that 28-3 lead, a lot of folks (looking at you specifically student section) left and the energy just went away. Obviously wasn’t much cheering to be done from that point. Crowd was out. https://t.co/7anhGprEfd
— Pablo Escobarner (blue chek) (@PabloEscoburner) November 13, 2021
Seems accurate, you could see the intensity dropped in the second half and the couldn’t get it back
— Jim (@Posonic) November 13, 2021
One Twitter user went after the coaching staff, which should certainly shoulder more blame than the fans:
Damn if only there was someone employed and paid exorbitant sums of money by auburn university to ensure the energy on the sideline stays up and the team plays hard and with a sense of urgency the entire game https://t.co/Q6FXtMH68o
— Achilles (@achilles256) November 13, 2021
No matter what your opinions are, if you are an Auburn football fan, you are sad after today’s collapse.