Who Starts at QB this week?

[IronMan70 3,277]

I've been thinking about this a lot, going back and forth on it. On the one hand we have a QB that came off the bench and won the game. My initial reaction was he earned the start. As time went by I began asking myself other questions such as:

Can he perform like that for an entire game ? What if at this point in his career, he is better coming off the bench like a relief pitcher ? Is the added pressure of going back to LSU too much to deal with as a new AU starter ? What if he plays poorly, will that mess him up ? Would it be better for him to start another game ? 

On the other side of the coin we have a QB that didn't play well and should have been replaced. But, he is also the same QB who lit up LSU last year. In that game the LSU QB got beaten up pretty bad and that just happens to be our other QB. There are questions there too like:

Will the QB be called on to be more run oriented in this game ? Would the guy who has the most starting experience, the one who beat LSU last year, be the best guy to start ? If Bo starts and doesn't do well would it mess him up ? Would it be better to bring Bo off the bench if TJ doesn't play well ? 

There is a lot to consider and honestly I'm not sure which scenario is better. The question presented to us was who do we "think" will start. So after considering everything, my guess is that Harsin starts Bo in a close decision. Coach Harsin gets to make the tough decision while the rest of us just want to win this game.  

 

Edited October 3, 2021 by IronMan70

[Win4AU 4,052]

Bo.  TJ was the hero last week but up until that last drive wasn't much better than Bo.  I think Bo allows the offense to open up a little more than with TJ at the helm.  I agree that if Bo comes out and looks like regular road Bo, TJ will get in the game.  

Edit to add Christian from the Auburn Sports guys made an interesting scenario that TJ starts and wins this game but Auburn loses the next 3 against UGA, Arky, and Ole Miss, which is entirely possible.  Bo comes back in and wins against TaMu, Miss State, USCe, and pulls off another miracle win against Bama.  That would be typical JABA but very possible.

 

Edited September 30, 2021 by Win4AU

[AUcivE09 582]

LSU leads the SEC in sacks. Gotta roll with Bo at least to start. This is the first time he has really been pressured to step his game up or lose the job. Let's see how he responds. Show me 5*

[AuburnTiger4Life 2,225]

This poll reflects what I’m seeing everywhere. The fan base is pretty 50/50 on this. I say start Finley and then let Bo come back in if things go south. It wouldn’t hurt Bo at all to be able to watch the defense for a while. 

[AUinfusion 390]

4 minutes ago, The Freak said:

One has shown average-ness, though.  Jury is still out on the other.

Eh, I get what you are saying, but this, to me, is average-ness. I'm an optimist, so every game I believe I'll see better out of our players. Maybe he's turned a page.

 

[AuburnTiger4Life 2,225]

1 minute ago, AUcivE09 said:

LSU leads the SEC in sacks. Gotta roll with Bo at least to start. This is the first time he has really been pressured to step his game up or lose the job. Let's see how he responds. Show me 5*

That’s true but a little misleading. They only had one sack against Moo State 

[AUinfusion 390]

6 minutes ago, Win4AU said:

Bo.  TJ was the hero last week but up until that last drive wasn't much better than Bo.  I think Bo allows the offense to open up a little more than with TJ at the helm.  I agree that if Bo comes out and looks like regular road Bo, TJ will get in the game.  

Edit to add Christian from the Auburn Sports guys made an interesting scenario that TJ starts and wins this game but Auburn loses the next 3 against UGA, Arky, and Ole Miss, which is entirely possible.  Bo comes back in and wins against TaMu, Miss State, USCe, and pulls off another miracle win against Bama.  That would be typical JABA but very possible.

 

Why would you put that second paragraph out in the universe, or, more importantly, in my head? 

[Old fan 47 771]

28 minutes ago, JMassie11 said:

Without the threat to push the ball down the field you will see them load the box with movement before the snap. Not sure if anyone remembers Chuck Knoblauch but what has happened to Bo is the football version of what he went through.

Knoblauch lost the confidence to make the throw from 1st to 2nd, but he was also good for a number of years. We’ve yet to see Nix be very good at all. Same thing happened to Sax with the Dodgers, but it was after a few years where each was decent at  2nd base. Based on stats, Bo has never really been very good since high school. Just my opinion. 

[CoffeeTiger 5,108]

I feel like Bo will start because of his experience. coaches believed Bo was the best QB through 3 and 3/4s of a game this season, so I don't see them making a big change for a huge road game at LSU. 

 

If Bo does bad enough to get benched at LSU then we'll probably not be in a good position to win the game anyway if TJ comes in. 

Edited September 30, 2021 by CoffeeTiger

[AUght2win 6,837]

Has to be TJ. One of the YouTubers made a great point: if TJ starts and struggles, you can pull him nbd.

But if you start Bo and he struggles again, you can essentially never start him again. 

Besides, TJ earned it. Especially in context of the return to Baton Rogue. 

[Old fan 47 771]

13 minutes ago, The Freak said:

One has shown average-ness, though.  Jury is still out on the other.

True enough, but average with the rest of our team won’t work in this league. 

[BigBlueWDE 1,136]

Best scenario is for TJ to start. All options are ok in that trade space. 

Option 1: He plays well, then we most likely have a solid chance to win the game...maybe even comfortably

Option 2: He plays average and Harsin gives Bo a shot to re-assert himself. Bo trying to win back the starting job is a different situation that nobody has ever seen before. I'm optimistic this would work out well, assuming we haven't fell too far behind.

Option 3: TJ plays average and is replaced by Bo. Bo plays average and we most likely lose the game. However, this is the only scenario that we could see DD have an opportunity to see the field (maybe even late in the game) or discussed as an option moving forward. We'll know what we got at least in that room. 

 

Having said all of that, I fully expect that Bo will start with TJ warmed up ready to enter the game sometime in the first half. 

[AUreo 753]

4 minutes ago, AUght2win said:

Has to be TJ. One of the YouTubers made a great point: if TJ starts and struggles, you can pull him nbd.

But if you start Bo and he struggles again, you can essentially never start him again. 

Besides, TJ earned it. Especially in context of the return to Baton Rogue. 

If TJ struggles and Bo replaces TJ during the game and struggles then you would have two broken QBs, though.

I think we will see both QBs during the game but Bo will be the starter.

[The Freak 2,528]

8 minutes ago, AUinfusion said:

Eh, I get what you are saying, but this, to me, is average-ness. I'm an optimist, so every game I believe I'll see better out of our players. Maybe he's turned a page.

 

You're more of a Bo optimist than an overall optimist.  His story has been written at this point.  QB whisperers can't fix him.

Bo has 803 attempts vs. TJ's 163.  He may still be better than TJ, but we know what we have with him. 

Career Stats

See All

Stats
2021
2020
2019

 

CMP	ATT	CMP%	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	LNG	RTG
63	103	61.2	724	7.0	5	0	42	136.2
214	357	59.9	2,415	6.8	12	7	91	123.9
217	377	57.6	2,542	6.7	16	6	78	125.0

[BigBlueWDE 1,136]

1 minute ago, The Freak said:

You're more of a Bo optimist than an overall optimist.  His story has been written at this point.  QB whisperers can't fix him.

Bo has 803 attempts vs. TJ's 163.  He may still be better than TJ, but we know what we have with him. 

Career Stats

See All

Stats
2021
2020
2019

 

CMP	ATT	CMP%	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	LNG	RTG
63	103	61.2	724	7.0	5	0	42	136.2
214	357	59.9	2,415	6.8	12	7	91	123.9
217	377	57.6	2,542	6.7	16	6	78	125.0

Wow, I've been pretty down on Bo, but those stats show a slight year-over-year improvement and we know that drops have been a huge problem this year. We would all feel much better about our offense this year if just a few of those key drops would have come down as catches. I wish there was a WR drop compilation just so we can see how bad it has been. 

[The Freak 2,528]

1 minute ago, BigBlueWDE said:

Wow, I've been pretty down on Bo, but those stats show a slight year-over-year improvement and we know that drops have been a huge problem this year. We would all feel much better about our offense this year if just a few of those key drops would have come down as catches. I wish there was a WR drop compilation just so we can see how bad it has been. 

Before you get too excited about this year, check this out.  See a trend this year?

Date	OPP	Result	CMP	ATT	YDS	CMP%	AVG	TD	INT	LNG	SACK	RTG	QBR
Sat 9/25	vsGAST	W 34-24	13	27	156	48.1	5.8	0	0	28	1	96.7	22.3
Sat 9/18	@10PSU	L 28-20	21	37	185	56.8	5.0	0	0	36	0	98.8	67.8
Sat 9/11	vsALST	W 62-0	9	17	108	52.9	6.4	2	0	28	1	145.1	38.2
Sat 9/4	vsAKR	W 60-10	20	22	275	90.9	12.5	3	0	42	0	240.9	96.1

[AU_Canoe 230]

I agree with the overall "gut feeling" on who starts QB. Seems like the old concept of throwing a noodle against a wall and seeing what sticks. 

[tgrogan21 6,198]

I believe if the question was "Who should start ..." the poll would be a bit more one-sided. I think that a lot of us believe that despite deserving the start that Finley will be coming off the bench, unfortunately. I hope I have to come back here Saturday night/Sunday morning and eat crow and that Bo plays the best game of his life. I just don't think that's gonna happen.

Also, we can sit here and cherry pick stats and games as much as we want, at the end of the day Bo Nix had 3 quarters to drive us down the field and score a TD. He didn't. Finley had 4 drives. 1 was a missed FG, 1 was a Tank fumble in GSU territory, and 1 was the 98 yard TD drive. Both QBs missed deep throws and that has to be better for whoever gets the start. We can't allow LSU to load the box up and take away the run. One of the QBs will have to make the throws downfield to open up the running game. I know what I get with Bo and it's not great. I don't know what I'm gonna get with TJ and I would rather take the chance that he'll perform better after running with the 1s and not coming off of the bench cold.

[Auhud08 596]

Start TJ, gives him a chance to show out against his former team and build on his last minute heroics from this past week. If TJ is shaky or the offense isnt moving, then bring in Bo. It will be a LESS pressure situation than if he were a starter. 
 

If you start Bo and he is shaky youre only left with TJ and you dont know how he’ll perform in the moment. Bo is a known quantity

[BigBlueWDE 1,136]

28 minutes ago, The Freak said:

Before you get too excited about this year, check this out.  See a trend this year?

Date	OPP	Result	CMP	ATT	YDS	CMP%	AVG	TD	INT	LNG	SACK	RTG	QBR
Sat 9/25	vsGAST	W 34-24	13	27	156	48.1	5.8	0	0	28	1	96.7	22.3
Sat 9/18	@10PSU	L 28-20	21	37	185	56.8	5.0	0	0	36	0	98.8	67.8
Sat 9/11	vsALST	W 62-0	9	17	108	52.9	6.4	2	0	28	1	145.1	38.2
Sat 9/4	vsAKR	W 60-10	20	22	275	90.9	12.5	3	0	42	0	240.9	96.1

yah, 1 great game to start the year...then a bunch of the same

[clwn 336]

Why is this even a question? If you're smart, you start the guy who came in and sparked the team and won the game on a 98yd drive. If you go with the guy you benched you risk looking like a bonehead and losing the team.

Should be TJ's job to lose now. I imagine Harsin is not saying anything about it naturally so LSU has no idea like the rest of us. Sure come kick-off we'll hear TJ.

I'm more interested in seeing Tank redeem himself from that fumble and being taken out on last drive. I hope he runs for 150+.

[AUGunsmith 666]

I think Bo has been fighting a shoulder injury since Penn St. His throwing has been different since that hit, especially the sky high deep balls.  He will probably start but unless he plays good ball won't make it through the half.

If that happens, TJ finishes the game and is named new starter. 

[woodford 3,655]

Just play DD

[woodford 3,655]

7 minutes ago, clwn said:

Why is this even a question? If you're smart, you start the guy who came in and sparked the team and won the game on a 98yd drive. If you go with the guy you benched you risk looking like a bonehead and losing the team.

Should be TJ's job to lose now. I imagine Harsin is not saying anything about it naturally so LSU has no idea like the rest of us. Sure come kick-off we'll hear TJ.

I'm more interested in seeing Tank redeem himself from that fumble and being taken out on last drive. I hope he runs for 150+.

Agreed. If our OL can open holes the RB’s need to run wild. They will carry this offense. 

[tgrogan21 6,198]

6 minutes ago, AUGunsmith said:

I think Bo has been fighting a shoulder injury since Penn St. His throwing has been different since that hit, especially the sky high deep balls.  He will probably start but unless he plays good ball won't make it through the half.

If that happens, TJ finishes the game and is named new starter. 

I know there's a lot of speculation on the injury but no one has confirmed it, right? If Bo was hurt then no way he should have even played the game last Saturday. You don't play an injured QB if it's going to affect his throwing and definitely not against a cupcake opponent. That's what you have reserves for. Let the backup play until the starter heals.