Alabama had extra motivation to beat Auburn after Bo Nix slandered Mac Jones
By Scott Rogust
Bo Nix’s comments about Mac Jones motivated Alabama in their dominant Iron Bowl win against Auburn.
The Iron Bowl is an annual contest that needs no hype or added beef. The Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers are heated rivals that are battling for bragging rights. However, the Crimson Tide managed to find extra motivation heading into the big game.
Ahead of the matchup, Auburn quarterback Bo Nix was asked about what impressed him most about Alabama signal-caller Mac Jones. Nix said that Jones was “great at managing the game,” and that didn’t sit well with Crimson Tide wide receiver Devonta Smith, who relayed the message to his quarterback.
“It was just funny just seeing that,” Smith said after Alabama’s 42-13 Iron Bowl win, via 247Sports. “But I mean, at the end of the day, people are gonna talk, they’re gonna do what they want. At the end of the day, we’re just gonna show up, execute the game plan and do what we’ve gotta do.”
Jones and Alabama use bulletin board material in their favor
Even without head coach Nick Saban on the sidelines due to a positive COVID-19 test, Alabama rolled on all cylinders with offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian taking over on an interim basis. Jones completed 18-of-26 pass attempts for 302 yards and five touchdowns. His biggest beneficiary was Smith, who hauled in seven passes for 171 yards and two scores. In fact, Jones joins Tua Tagovailoa and Gary Hollingsworth as the only Alabama quarterbacks to throw five touchdowns in a game against Auburn. Not bad for a game manager.
Nix, on the other hand, struggled to get anything going for the Tigers. The sophomore quarterback completed 23-of-38 of his passes for 227 yards, zero touchdowns and two interceptions. Nix averaged 6.0 yards per completion, as compared to Jones’ 11.6.
The Auburn quarterback learned a valuable lesson — never call Jones a game manager, because he’ll use that as motivation.
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