True freshman Bo Nix named Auburn football starting quarterback over Joey Gatewood

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, 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.

"Just felt that we needed to let our team know who the starting quarterback is going into Oregon and start to get reps, specifically with the ones, to try to get some timing and everything that goes with that," Malzahn said after Tuesday's practice.

"But it was a very good competition. Like I said before — I think the biggest thing, you know, when I look back at the whole thing is: We've got two quarterbacks that we feel like we can win with. There was very good competition. At the end of the day, Bo Nix won the starting quarterback job."

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 in a season-opener after Travis Tidwell, who did so in 1946 when there was a shortage of players due to World War II.

Malzahn delivered the news that he would be before Auburn's first post-fall-camp practice on Tuesday.

"Well, obviously, it’s a dream come true," Nix said. "I’ve always wanted to play quarterback at Auburn. It’s a goal of mine that I’ve had for a long, long time; as far as I can remember. All the way back to throwing the football in the backyard with my dad, I wanted to play quarterback at Auburn. So it was just an awesome moment. You honestly couldn’t write it any better.”

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, witch included 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 High from 2013-16 and has been at Pinson Valley since 2017. 

"I'm new to Auburn. And he's like the walking encyclopedia," offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kenny Dillingham said. "I mean, we have the quarterbacks over to my house, and I forget what we were talking about. And Bo talked about like a 1987 game where we caught a fade ball or something. And I go to a book I have of Auburn history. And he's over here telling me about things that happened before he was born.

"So, I mean, for me, that's the biggest thing. He's all in on Auburn. He's all in. He's been born and raised all in. And I think for him, that's where he finds his comfort zone and being here, which is one of the hardest things to do as a freshman is: Do you feel comfortable? I'm moving somewhere new, and with new people — am I comfortable? Well, he's not moving anywhere."

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.

"Only God can write a script like that," Patrick Nix said afterward.

Bo Nix arrived at Auburn a few weeks later as the least experienced player in a four-man quarterback competition that also included Gatewood, redshirt freshman former minor league baseball player Cord Sandberg and junior Malik Willis (who has since transferred to Liberty). By the end of his first spring on campus, he had risen to "1a" to Gatewood's "1." 

He spent the summer working to improve himself further, including training with former NFL quarterback Jordan Palmer (who also worked with former Tigers quarterback Jarrett Stidham) in California. Not long after fall camp began, it became clear that Nix had moved ahead of Gatewood, as he was the one first in the pecking order during practices and scrimmages.

And while Nix is probably not the type of runner the 6-foot-5, 233-pound Gatewood is in the open field, he's not purely a pocket passer, either — he rushed for 417 yards and seven touchdowns as a senior at Pinson Valley and should be much more of a threat to carry the ball than Stidham was.

"He can run. He can really run," Malzahn said. "That’s the good thing about it, both of them are true dual-threat guys and add a different component when you’ve got a plus-one run. I feel like both those guys can do it. Bo’s shown he can extend plays and I think he’s a lot faster than a lot of people give him credit for."

There seems a good chance Gatewood will still end up being involved in Auburn's offense as more than just the backup quarterback. Malzahn would not confirm whether that would be part of the game plan against Oregon, but the head coach has brought up more than once how much he likes how "different" the quarterbacks are — both are dual threats, but Nix has the higher ceiling as a passer, and the 6-foot-5, 233-pound Gatewood is a physical runner who teammates have compared to Cam Newton.

It stands to reason that the Tigers could find a way to use both. And even if they don't do that against Oregon in Week 1, nonconference home games against Tulane and Kent State the next two weeks should provide an opportunity to give each quarterback more game experience.

But for now, the biggest question Auburn faced entering fall camp has an answer — Nix will start at quarterback on Aug. 31 at AT&T Stadium.

"To me, it’s something I was shooting for. It was a goal of mine," Nix said. "I came in at a good situation, and our coaches, Coach Malzahn and Coach Dillingham, they did a really good job of getting me prepared quickly.”

Josh Vitale is the Auburn beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. You can follow him on Twitter at @JoshVitale. To reach him by email, click here.