Did Bo Nix blame fans for the Auburn Tigers choking away a huge lead against Mike Leach and the Mississippi State Bulldogs?
When discussing the Auburn Tigers’ blown lead against Mike Leach, Will Rogers, and the Mississippi State Bulldogs, Auburn quarterback Bo Nix didn’t exactly seem all that thrilled with the atmosphere at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Saturday afternoon was rough for Nix and the Tigers. After Auburn rushed out to a quick 28-3 lead over Mississippi State, Rogers and the Bulldogs patiently and efficiently completed an impressive comeback. At one point, the Bulldogs scored 40 unanswered points on their way to a 43-34 Mississippi State win.
In his postgame press conference, Nix said a quote that some Auburn fans have found issue with.
Auburn quarterback Bo Nix talking to the media now.
— Jordan D. Hill (@JordanDavisHill) November 13, 2021
Nix: "I'm not quite sure what happened there. Felt like the entire stadium, the life, just mellowed out. The life of the stadium just relaxed there for a minute, and it was hard to get momentum back"
But, while Nix did point out how the Tigers may have potentially performed better with a louder crowd backing them, that’s not all he said on the matter.
Bo Nix discusses Auburn Tigers humiliating loss to Mississippi State Bulldogs
To his credit, Nix didn’t totally fault fans for the way he and his teammates performed. It’s worth noting that Nix noted how Auburn’s intensity waned as the Bulldogs came roaring back and the game progressed.
Nix also acknowledged how Mississippi State came out and was executing in all phases of the game. The Bulldogs subsequently scored 40 unanswered points as a result of that.
Here was Bo Nix's full quote earlier about what happened in the second half.
— Jordan D. Hill (@JordanDavisHill) November 13, 2021
Saw some chatter about it based on the opening snippet I was able to tweet out: pic.twitter.com/bt0xyfYQbi
The whole discourse surrounding Auburn fans allegedly growing disinterested in the game is a bit of a “chicken or the egg” sort of dilemma.
Did the Tigers really fall apart because fans were checked out or did fans check out because Auburn allowed Mississippi State to have a historic day on the Tigers? Or, is it possible that these two phenomena occurred simultaneously with neither necessarily being caused by the other but both accelerating the other?
At the end of the day, what matters is this: Auburn just collapsed in horrifying fashion. Tigers head coach Bryan Harsin has some work to do as his team clearly has a lot of potential but just hasn’t met it yet.
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