Shades of Gainesville crept up on Bo Nix.

Early on against Arkansas, Nix and his receivers suffered from miscommunication. The true freshman forced two throws into double coverage, both of which were near-interceptions by the Razorbacks secondary.

Nix was 4-of-9 passing in the first half for 45 yards, taking two sacks and missing on four consecutive throws in the second quarter.

He looked uncomfortable in the offense, much like he did in a lowly performance against Florida two weeks ago.

But in the second half, Nix emerged looking poised, calculated and sharp. He himself was more confident with the football, but he also had help with adjustments from his staff up in the box.

“They were trying to force us to throw the ball over their heads,” offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham said of the early passing struggles. “I think once we started taking them up on that challenge and throwing the ball over their heads, the offense expanded and we started moving the ball in the third quarter.

"So I think, for us, our adjustment was taking those shots down the field and being more aggressive on first and second down.”

After a three-and-out on the first series of the third quarter, Nix catalyzed Auburn’s offense in the second half, completing 8 of 8 passes for 131 yards and three touchdowns, a new career-high. He also ran for 19 yards and a TD for the game.

Following an Arkansas field-goal drive that took half the quarter, Auburn rode true freshman running back D.J. Williams inside Razorback territory before Nix found a wide-open Seth Williams for 48 yards and a touchdown — the quarterback’s seventh scoring strike to the big-bodied sophomore receiver this season.

After an interception by Javaris Davis on the following, Nix found Anthony Schwartz for 28 yards and the score — two touchdowns in 22 seconds.

“In the second quarter we were out of rhythm. It wasn't just [Nix]. It was everything,” Malzahn said. “And in the second half he really looked comfortable. I think when he hit that one to Seth, I think it opened everything up and he played really good after that.”

Williams and Schwartz combined for 163 of Nix’s 176 yards through the air.

“They open up both sides of the field,” Nix said of the two receivers. “You can’t double both of them. They’re going to get a one-on-one between the two of them. You’ve just got to find it and hit it.”

Issues remain for Nix to fix from the blowout win, like when he had the ball punched out from behind him for the second time this season, resulting in his fourth turnover in the past two games. But the quarterback still made some of his best throws of the season, including a back-shoulder touchdown from 15 yards out to Williams to put the Tigers up 37-10 before Nix gave way to Joey Gatewood and the backups for the remainder of the contest.

“He got on the same page with everything,” Williams said, “and we started hitting like we usually do.”

-------

NOT A MEMBER?

JOIN AUBURNSPORTS.COM TODAY to enjoy around-the-clock content including stories, analysis, videos, podcasts, call-in shows and The Greatest Message Board In The History of The Internet.