Auburn football will get on the road this weekend to Columbia, South Carolina for an SEC matchup against the Gamecocks, but they will be travelling without their longtime starting quarterback. After suffering a broken ankle in last weekend’s loss to Mississippi State, Bo Nix underwent successful surgery and has begun the road to recovery.
With Bo Nix out of commission, LSU transfer TJ Finley will take the reins of the Auburn offense for the first time as a starter. For the second time, Finley will get his first start against South Carolina. However, Nix will not be on the sidelines this weekend to support Finley as he will not travel with the team due to his surgery being only two days ago.
Bo Nix won't travel with Auburn to South Carolina this weekend, understandably (surgery was two days ago), but he hopes to be at JHS for the Iron Bowl next week.
— Tom Green (@Tomas_Verde) November 17, 2021
Nix and Finley have repeatedly emphasized their good relationship, and while Nix maintained the starting job even after Finley’s triumphant debut against Georgia State, AL.com reports that Finley has been taking just as many reps in practice as Bo, and Finley’s father says his son has been preparing himself to be ready to start at any time:
"“He’s been preparing as if he’s going to start and mentally preparing as if he’s going to start, and you just see what happens,” David Finley said. “…He’s familiar with the ones. I think after that, it showed they have two comparable quarterbacks who can really get the job done. You kind of had two things in your toolbox, so I think the coaches were preparing them both to play in the event that Auburn needed both.”"
Finley will have the opportunity to put all his preparation on display this weekend as Auburn football takes on the 5-5 South Carolina Gamecocks who have only won two conference games this season against Vanderbilt and Florida. The game will kickoff from Williams-Brice Stadium at 6:00 p.m. central time.