“Tigers Take down Ducks in Last Second Showdown”

By: @OOSSports

9/1/19

Everybody in the country thought that Auburn was going to get blown out after a horrific start. At a point, every unit played about as terrible as possible. Bo Nix threw two interceptions in the first half making some think that he may not be the man for the job, and the Tiger’s defense allowed a whopping 176 yards and 14 points in only the first quarter. Their special teams also allowed several huge returns while Anders Carlson missed a field goal that could very well have changed the result of the game.

When it’s all said and done, none of that mattered. The Tigers survived, scoring 21 unanswered points walking out of Arlington with a 27-21 victory over #11 Oregon. Auburn clearly made several adjustments to slow down the Ducks offense, which looked pretty solid at many times. When the 2nd half started, the Tigers flipped a switch and seized all momentum. We witnessed Bo Nix, who has dreamed of being Auburn’s QB all of his life, win his first career start leading the Tigers back to victory. His clutch touchdown pass to Seth Williams with only nine seconds to play gave Auburn its one and only lead of the night, as Auburn fans celebrated another incredible, last-minute finish.

Down 21-20, Auburn crucially stopped the Ducks on fourth down and then went on to force a punt on two straight drives in the fourth. With everything on the line, the Tigers faced a forth down and Bo Nix got a first down by the nose of the football on a gutsy run. A sideline pass to Seth Williams put Auburn in field goal range at the 26-yard line stopping the clock with under 30 seconds, but Coach Malzahn tried for the end zone one more time. Nix and the Tigers came through and delivered in the clutch. One-on-one coverage on Williams turned into a mismatch fast for Oregon, and Williams heroically caught the ball falling across the goal line to win the game in dramatic fashion. That could end up being one of the biggest moments of the Tigers season if they can stick around with the rest of the SEC West. After an excessive celebration penalty, the Duck’s went for it all and threw it out through the back of the endzone as time expired.

It was a tale of two halves for the Auburn QB, who went a mediocre 6-18 for 91 yards and threw 2 ugly picks before the half. Auburn’s line was not giving him enough protection. He was obviously shaken up, but he slowed things down in the second half. His numbers weren’t absurd (7-14 for 86 yards and 2 TD’s) but he helped lead the Tigers to three scoring drives and the they slowly, but effectively, started to wear down a physical Oregon defense. This resulted in the Tigers walking out of AT&T stadium 1-0 after a CLOSE call, defeating the Ducks 27-21 in Arlington to kickoff the season.