AUBURN | When T.J. Finley committed to Auburn after entering the transfer portal following one year at LSU, he made it clear that he wasn't just coming to the Plains to sit on the bench and be a backup. It looked like his prophecy might come true after he substituted in for a struggling Bo Nix and saved the Tigers against Georgia State, yet Nix came back the following week and reclaimed his spot as the starter.

Well, T.J., your time has now arrived, and while it is due to unfortunate circumstances like Nix's broken ankle, Bryan Harsin is confident that the sophomore's ready for the lead role in Mike Bobo's offense.

"He prepares like a starter," the Auburn coach said. "He goes out there and practices like a starter, and then you never know when your opportunity is going to happen, and so he just happened to be ready for that."

It is Finley's first start since Dec. 5 of last season against No. 1 Alabama, a game in which he eventually was pulled for Max Johnson. Ironically, Saturday's game against South Carolina, the same team he made his first collegiate start for LSU.

With any change at quarterback, the coaching staff must know what that signal-caller does and doesn't do well. While Finley can scramble if absolutely needed, he prefers to be a drop-back passer, differing from Nix's ability to use his legs as an extra threat in the running game. Because Harsin and Bobo might not be acutely aware of the things that make Finley dangerous, conversations between the coaches and the quarterback will be important this week.

"You want to know what those guys are thinking, and that's part of their preparation, that's part of the process where you get quarterbacks' and players' opinions on things," Harsin said. "Certainly his opinion and some of the things he sees as he studies the film because each player's a little bit different in what they do like, so it might be a little more of this, a little less of that."

The first-year coach also expects the regular starters to step up their game to help their new quarterback, something critical in the last two games as Finley settles into the role. Blocking for him will be different from Nix, and his ball will come out a little different from the wide receivers, running backs and tight ends are used to. So it's as much of an adjustment for those surrounding Finley then it is for the quarterback himself.

"I'm counting on those guys to raise their level this week and their execution and make sure they're doing their job so T.J. can go in there and operate and do what he's asked to do and play quarterback," Harsin said.

His last action with the game in the balance came on a first-quarter drive against his former team in Auburn's win in Baton Rouge. Now, he's the main man in an offense looking for a spark with its leader out. It's the opportunity that Finley was looking for when he joined the Tigers.