Ex-Alabama QB’s truth bomb on Bo Nix Auburn fans hate to acknowledge

Ex-Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy made a statement about infamous former Auburn football QB and current Oregon QB1 Bo Nix on Always College Football that Tiger fans either won’t like or have heard a million times and hate to acknowledge: what the Ducks are getting under center in Eugene is far different than the QB play the Plains got in 2020, less so in 2021, and even less so than Nix’s freshman season in 2019.

“I really believe that the Auburn Bo Nix is not the Oregon Bo Nix,” McElroy said. “Two very different players. He’s more confident and I thought he looked really comfortable last year when healthy, but did get a little banged up towards the end of the year.”

Of course, the key is Kenny Dillingham — who was the Auburn football offensive coordinator under Gus Malzahn and served in the same role under first-year Oregon head coach Dan Lanning during the 2022 season.

Greg McElroy skeptical about Bo Nix replicating success without former Auburn football offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham

McElroy is uncertain about whether Nix can replicate the same success for Oregon in 2023 with Dillingham off to Pac-12 rival Arizona State. The ex-Crimson Tide quarterback called that angle the “big question mark” for Ducks fans.

“Kenny Dillingham is now the head coach at Arizona State, he was formerly the offensive coordinator of the Oregon Ducks,” McElroy prefaced before saying, “Coordinator change is a big question mark. I mean, will Bo Nix continue to play at a really high level? Last year he was off the charts. His first couple of years in school, not quite as efficient.”

Tiger fans are by and large split on whether or not they want to see the Pinson Valley product excel in his post-Plains career. For those who want to see him fail — or, at worst, perform at a lower level than Payton Thorne –, Dillingham’s departure certainly points in the direction of regression from the AU defection.