The text on Shannon Finley’s phone confirmed what her family already suspected.
It was from Krista Nix, mother of Auburn quarterback Bo Nix, informing them about her son’s diagnosis following Saturday’s loss to Mississippi State. He had a fracture in his right ankle that required surgery. His season was officially over.
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At the end of her text, Krista Nix added a note letting Finley know that “we’re praying for T.J. and his success.”
For the first time since the 2018 Music City Bowl, Bo Nix won’t be starting at quarterback for Auburn. The role of QB1 for Auburn’s final two regular-season games now falls to T.J. Finley, the LSU transfer who joined the program this summer and helped lead an early-season comeback win against Georgia State.
The Finleys were conflicted when they received the text from Krista Nix, whom they’d grown close with throughout the season while spending time together in the stands during games. They were devastated for Bo Nix, whose junior campaign was cut short, but they were excited for the opportunity his injury afforded their son.
“His time coming right now is unfortunate for Bo, because T.J. and Bo, they were cool,” David Finley told AL.com on Tuesday. “There was no animosity between them. They pushed each other, so to hear he had to end his season on a note like that, we as the Finleys are definitely not happy about that at all. You always hear ‘next man up. Next man up. Next man up.’
“He’s the next man up, so he’s going to be prepared to go and try to help win the next three games and end this season on a high note.”
This isn’t the first time T.J. Finley has been thrust into a starting role because of an injury. Last year at LSU, Finley got the start against South Carolina after Myles Brennan sustained a season-ending abdominal injury in a loss to Missouri. It was the first of five starts he made as a freshman at LSU before transferring this summer and landing at Auburn.
Finley chose Auburn because he felt there was an opportunity to compete with Nix, who started every game the prior two seasons, his performances oscillating from brilliant to maddening, and he’d be given a fair shot.
“T.J. feels like there’s not a lot of politics with Coach Harsin; it’s, ‘I want to win,’” David Finley said.
The younger Finley pushed Nix throughout fall camp, the two often going shot for shot during portions of practice open to the media. The added competition in the quarterback room was something Nix hadn’t really experienced since the fall before his freshman season, and it seemed to bring out the best in both players.
Though Nix’s hold on the starting job never loosened in the preseason, Finley’s addition was a purposeful one for Auburn. It gave the Tigers functional depth at the position, a player with starting experience in the SEC and one with a high ceiling, given his 6-foot-7 frame and cannon for an arm.
The Finleys preached patience to their son when he chose to transfer to Auburn. T.J. wasn’t afraid of competition, and he understood he would have a chance if he was deemed the best option at quarterback. But he also knew the reality of the situation he stepped into: Nix was a returning two-year starter and already had the advantage of spring practices and a full offseason in a new system under his belt.
“T.J. is 19, and we understood coming in that this was Bo’s junior season… so, we knew — whether we felt it was a close battle or T.J. was better, or whatever, whatever we felt, we knew Bo would have to lose (his job) on the field,” David Finley said.
That moment looked like it came Sept. 25 in the second half against Georgia State.
Auburn trailed by 12 at halftime and was down by five late in the third quarter at home against a Sun Belt opponent that was receiving $1.25 million to visit Jordan-Hare Stadium. Nix was ineffective, completing just 13-of-27 passes for 156 yards while failing to lead any touchdown drives, as multiple possessions stalled out in Georgia State territory.
Enter, T.J. Finley.
In his first extended action at Auburn, the Ponchatoula, La., native completed 9-of-16 passes for 96 yards and a touchdown while leading the Tigers to the comeback win. His performance was highlighted by throwing the go-ahead touchdown to Shedrick Jackson on a broken fourth-down play inside the final minute of an eventual 34-24 win.
His late-game heroics, paired with Bo Nix’s struggles, loomed over the program that week. Auburn’s quarterback situation was front and center entering SEC play. Would Bo Nix remain the QB1, or would T.J. Finley make a triumphant return to his former school, LSU, as Auburn’s new starter Oct. 2. Auburn coach Bryan Harsin remained tightlipped throughout the week, and the players were informed the Friday before the game that Nix would lead the team into Death Valley.
Though Finley remained Auburn’s backup, the biggest change in the aftermath of the Georgia State performance came in practices. Every week since then, according to David Finley, the two quarterbacks have received “one-for-one” reps in practice, as T.J. began receiving more work with the first-team offense, even as Bo maintained the starting job.
“He’s been preparing as if he’s going to start and mentally preparing as if he’s going to start, and you just see what happens,” David Finley said. “…He’s familiar with the ones. I think after that, it showed they have two comparable quarterbacks who can really get the job done. You kind of had two things in your toolbox, so I think the coaches were preparing them both to play in the event that Auburn needed both.”
The Tigers didn’t need both until late in the second half of last week’s collapse against Mississippi State. Nix injured his ankle in the third quarter while completing a 44-yard pass downfield. The junior could tell something was wrong, telling Finley on the sideline that “I can’t push, and I can’t run like I want to and need to.” After a brief trip inside the medical tent, he remained in the game, completing 9-of-17 passes for 109 yards and leading Auburn’s only second-half scoring drive.
He didn’t come out until late in the fourth, following that touchdown drive with about three minutes left and Auburn trailing by nine. That’s when Finley took over, his lone pass an incompletion followed by a lost fumble that sealed the biggest collapse in program history.
As Finley bided his time behind Nix, his father — who has coached in some capacity for most of his life — did his best to keep him focused on the bigger picture. David Finley told his son to remember what he came to Auburn for and what their expectations were going in. His move to the Plains wasn’t about this season; it was about the next two.
“Just keep getting better every day, so that when your number is called and your time comes, you will be prepared,” David Finley told his son. “It won’t be no fall-off; it won’t be nothing…. It should be full-go.”
Now that time has arrived for T.J. Finley. He is Auburn’s starting quarterback for the remainder of the season, and in a unique twist of fate, his first start for Auburn comes against the same South Carolina program he made his first career start against while at LSU last season.
Finley completed 81 percent of his passes for 265 yards and a pair of touchdowns that game while leading LSU to a 30-point win, picking apart a Gamecocks’ defense that sat back in a zone and dared the then-freshman to beat them with his arm.
The symmetry of the circumstances is not lost on the Finleys, with David Finley telling his son “God must be sending you a sign.” The difference this time is a matter of comfort. The elder Finley says his son is in a better position to succeed this season because he feels “he has the faith and favor of his coaches” in their belief in him.
Beyond that, T.J.. Finley views this newfound opportunity late in the season as a chance to prove himself and make a case to be Auburn’s starting quarterback next season, independent of what Nix chooses to do after this year.
“This is a chance to showcase what he’s been doing all year in practice and what he’s been preparing for,” David Finley said. “…I always tell him to treat every time you walk on the field as an audition for a job. You are auditioning for a next-level job, so you want to go out there, be a team player, be a leader, and get the job done.”
Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.