AUBURN, Ala. – Freshman quarterback Bo Nix announced his presence on the national scene by orchestrating a game-winning drive late in his debut and looks to build off the effort when 13th-ranked Auburn hosts improving Tulane on Saturday night. Nix threw two interceptions and completed just 41.9 percent of his passes last week, but ran for a key fourth down and threw a touchdown pass to Seth Williams with nine seconds left as the Tigers edged Oregon 27-21 at Arlington, Texas.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2. LINE: Auburn -18
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"He has some savviness to him, there's no doubt," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn told reporters of Nix, who was 13-of-31 for 177 yards and two scores. "Of course, when the game is on the line, you've got to make plays, and that's the one thing he showed." Malzahn was not pleased with the amount of mistakes the Tigers made in the season opener and they must be alert in their home debut against a Tulane team that has won six of the last seven games dating back to last year when it ended the campaign with a victory in the AutoNation Cure Bowl. The Green Wave totaled 545 yards, with 350 coming on the ground, in the season-opening 42-14 victory over Florida International and senior quarterback Justin McMillan was named American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week. "I feel really comfortable going out there with this team we have," McMillan told reporters. "We have a lot of talent and a lot of youth and we're going to make plays."
ABOUT TULANE (1-0)
McMillan, who is now 6-1 as a starter, completed 14-of-18 passes for 199 yards with touchdown passes to senior Darnell Mooney (four catches, 84 yards) and sophomore Tyrick James (four, 60) last week. Seniors Darius Bradwell (13 carries, 90 yards) and Corey Dauphine (three, 76, two touchdowns) led the rushing attack, which included 51 yards and a TD from McMillan and another score from sophomore Amare Jones. "That's hard to do," Green Wave coach Willie Fritz told the New Orleans Times Picayune of his team's 350 rushing yards. ". … They've got a pretty good defensive line and linebackers. When they crowded the box, we were getting the ball out there on the perimeter."
ABOUT AUBURN (1-0)
While Nix came through on the final drive, the Tigers ran the ball much better in the second half last week and sophomore halfback JaTarvious Whitlow finished with 110 yards on 24 carries. "We just put our heads down and told ourselves, ‘We've got to come out here way more aggressive than we did in the first half," Whitlow told reporters. "The line played with a chip on their shoulder. … They're talking about ‘running backs are not back.' Every time my number gets called, I'm going to show you why RBU (running back university) is back." Senior defensive back Jeremiah Dinson finished with a team-high 13 tackles to go along with a sack in the opener and was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Williams, who was third on the team with 26 receptions last season, caught four in the opener including the winning score for the Tigers.
2. Mooney needs 57 receiving yards to become the 11th Green Wave player to reach 2,000 in his career.
3. Tulane leads the all-time series 17-14-6, but the teams have played just once since 1955 and the Tigers won 38-13 in 2006.
PREDICTION: Auburn 38, Tulane 20