AUBURN — We’ve known since the first day in May that Auburn would start a freshman at quarterback against Oregon on Aug. 31 in Arlington, Texas. The only question was whether it would be a redshirt freshman or a true freshman: Joey Gatewood or Bo Nix.
On Tuesday — 12 days before that first game — we learned the answer.
Nix, the five-star dual-threat quarterback ranked No. 1 at his position in the Class of 2019 and a member of the 2018 ALL-USA First-Team Offense, will start for the Tigers against the Ducks in the first game of his college career.
Head coach Gus Malzahn announced his decision before practice Tuesday after spending the previous two days meeting with his staff.
ALL-USA: Nix named to 2018 ALL-USA First-Team Offense
Nix will be the eighth quarterback in Auburn history to make his first career start as a true freshman (which has been allowed by rule since 1972) and first since Montgomery’s Jeremy Johnson in 2013. He’ll be the second ever to do so a season-opener after Travis Tidwell, who did so in 1946 when there was a shortage of players due to World War II.
OFFICIAL: @CoachGusMalzahn has named @bo_nix10 the starting quarterback.#WarEagle x #RidefortheBrand pic.twitter.com/hNVObvJ8M4
— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) August 20, 2019
This is a job Nix has been preparing for almost his entire life. He’s not only the son of a coach, but the son of a former Auburn quarterback, too — Patrick Nix threw for 4,957 yards and 31 touchdowns over 32 games for the Tigers from 1992-95 and spent the next 17 years as a college coach, with including Jacksonville State, Henderson State, Samford, Georgia Tech, Miami and Charleston Southern.
Bo Nix spent his entire high school career playing for his father, who was the head coach at Scottsboro (Alabama) High School from 2013-16 and has been at Pinson Valley (Alabama) since 2017.
Nix, the reigning Alabama Mr. Football, set state records with more than 12,000 yards of total offense and 161 total touchdowns (127 passing, 34 rushing) during an illustrious high school career playing for his dad. In his final game this past December, he threw a touchdown to the same corner of the same end zone at Jordan-Hare Stadium that his father once hit Frank Sanders in the 1993 Iron Bowl to help lead Pinson Valley to a second consecutive Class 6A state championship.
