Iron Bowl notebook: 'surreal moment' for Bo Nix

Iron Bowl notebook: 'surreal moment' for Bo NixIron Bowl notebook: 'surreal moment' for Bo Nix

AUBURN, Ala. – An hour had passed since Bo Nix knelt in victory formation on the final play of Auburn's 48-45 Iron Bowl win, yet the freshman quarterback was still clinging to the football with both hands.

"You can fantasize at home in your room taking a knee against Alabama your freshman year at the end of the game, and that actually happened," said Nix Saturday, the last Tiger in the media room. "It's just a surreal moment. There's nothing like it. I've never experienced anything like it."

Nix produced 217 yards of total offense with no turnovers in his Iron Bowl debut. He was 15-for-30 for 173 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown pass to Sal Cannella. He also averaged 7.3 yards on six rushes, netting 44 yards while scoring Auburn's first touchdown on a 7-yard run.

"I'm excited for Auburn," Nix said. "That's why you come to Auburn, because you want to beat your rival. Being a freshman, I'm just proud for the seniors, they can go out with their heads held high, and they've left a really good legacy."

"He's got something special to him," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "He'll win a championship before he gets out of here. His leadership, the moment's not too big. He's got the special traits. The future's going to be a lot of fun with him leading us."

Growing up in the state of Alabama sweetened the victory for Nix.

"A lot of guys from Alabama, they understand the rivalry," he said. "If you refuse to lose and you have guys feeding off that, then you'll be hard to beat. We just refused to lose and we battled till the end of the game.

"I'm just thankful for the Auburn family. They really showed up for us today, and they were a huge contributor to the win. The entire game our fans were in it and that really helped and created a huge home-field advantage."

WHISTLE KICK

Anders Carlson beat the clock and tied his brother in the span of one second.

Carlson's 52-yard field goal at the end of the first half tied Daniel Carlson and Al Del Greco for Auburn's longest Iron Bowl kick.

"That's something we practice so much," Anders said. "We call it 'Whistle Kick.' We were ready for it. I'm glad we got a chance."

Carlson earned SEC Special Teams Player of the Week honors for his Iron Bowl performance, his first game with four field goals. Carlson connected from 43 and 52 yards in the second quarter, then hit from 43 and 44 yards in the third, with his final kick giving Auburn a 40-38 lead heading to the fourth quarter.

"It's awesome to help out the team, just to play a small part in such a special game, it's incredible," Carlson said.

D-LINE DELIVERS

As they've done all season, Derrick Brown and Marlon Davidson showed up together, arriving at Auburn's locker room at the same time, where Malzahn was waiting to congratulate the senior captains.

"That's hard work, baby. That's hard work!" Davidson shouted before hugging his head coach.

Brown made a valiant bid to to tie Davidson with a fourth SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week Award by making 3.5 tackles for loss among his seven stops. Davidson contributed two tackles and a quarterback hurry.

"We were hard-working," Davidson said, discussing the legacy Auburn's 25 seniors have left. "We earned everything. Nothing was given to us. We always fought through it all, and it paid off, it sure did."

"Being able to make a lot of plays in the Iron Bowl, and being able to have a special time," Brown said. "I've been here four years now. I didn't really feel like it until that clock hit zero tonight. I was just all smiles, full of emotions. Ready to go celebrate with my son and enjoy the night."

BOWL SEASON

Climbing to No. 11 in the AP poll, Auburn (9-3) will learn its bowl destination and opponent on Sunday after Saturday's conference championship games.

A bowl victory would give Auburn its 15th 10-win season and would tie Malzahn with Shug Jordan with a third 10-win campaign. Pat Dye's teams won 10 games four times. Terry Bowden and Tommy Tuberville each recorded two 10-win seasons. Gene Chizik's 2010 Tigers went 14-0.

"They're some great football players, but they're even better people," Malzahn said of the 2019 senior class. "This day and time in college football, the highs are high and the lows are low, and it's easy to point fingers. That's what the whole world really wants you to do, but our leadership hung in there.

"They didn't flinch, and we went through some tough times. I'm really proud of our staff, too. We've finished on a high note. We've got a chance to win 10 games, and that's a really special thing, here in the West, and playing the schedule that we've played."

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer