Well, Bo Nix naysayers finally got their wish. Auburn pulled their starting quarterback.

After three straight seasons of blowing leads to LSU, Auburn’s offense made sure to buck that trend, scoring its most points ever against LSU in a 48-11 win on Saturday and allowing the coaching staff to rest Nix for nearly the entire fourth quarter in what was the most well-rounded games from the Auburn offense in years.

While playing against an LSU defense is about as tough as punching through a wet paper bag, Chad Morris’ offense has now scored season-high points in consecutive weeks and looks to finally be hitting its stride, with games against Alabama and Texas A&M still looming.

In recent weeks, Morris and head coach Gus Malzahn have stressed a desire for a more balanced attack, with less of a dependence on Nix’s arm. Gone are the days of asking Nix to throw 40 times. There has been a shift to using his athleticism to Auburn’s advantage while continuing to pound the ball with Tank Bigsby.

Not only did Nix have his best passing performance of the season — going 18-of-24 for 300 yards and 3 touchdowns — but he also had his best game running the ball, leading the team with 81 yards on 11 carries.

His threat to run, as well as frequent motion from Eli Stove and J.J. Pegues, kept the LSU defensive line at bay. The SEC’s leading pass rush entering the game failed to record a single sack, all while Auburn was without starting offensive lineman Brandon Council.

Bigsby’s 15 carries for 71 yards and 2 touchdowns felt like a quiet day by the freshman’s lofty standards. That speaks to how effective Auburn’s play-calling was at distributing carries among the other Auburn backs and not allowing LSU to key in on any one playmaker. Stove, Pegues, Anthony Schwartz and Seth Williams all finished with at least 3 receptions.

In the past two games, Nix has completed 75.9 percent of his passes for 335.5 yards a game with 6 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. That’s a marked improvement from his 54.9 completion percentage, 252.5-yard average and 6 touchdowns and 4 interceptions in the first four games.

Nix became the first Auburn QB since Cam Newton in 2010 to throw for 300 yards, pass for 3 touchdowns and score a rushing touchdown. It’s that type of versatility that led to all the hype for Nix, but it was abandoned in the opening weeks under Morris that led to some of the Tigers’ struggles.

Auburn’s 506 yards and 7.2 yards per play were season highs as the Tigers rushed for more than 200 yards for the fourth consecutive game.

It certainly helps to throw to wide-open receivers, but the foundation has been laid for when this Auburn offense is eventually tested against stronger SEC defenses.

It wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies, as Nix and Morris got into their second visible altercation on the sideline of the season. But a weapon like Williams and a 91-yard toss to Schwartz are good ways to ease those tensions.

And while Nix and Co. certainly deserve their fair share of the credit for the 37-point blowout, Kevin Steele’s defense rendered an LSU rushing attack obsolete (27 carries, 32 yards) and forced a quarterback change of its own, but not for the reason Nix was pulled.

Auburn forced 3 turnovers that led to 21 points and never allowed LSU to even have a whiff of being in the game. Even Auburn’s special teams were near flawless — they downed a punt at the 1, and Anders Carlson made a touchdown-saving tackle.

Undoubtedly, nothing will be this easy going forward for Auburn, but the Tigers have finally found their rhythm. Performances like this make second place in the SEC West a reasonable goal, and what should be yet another Iron Bowl at Jordan-Hare where anything could happen.

At least for another week, the hot seat rumors on Malzahn and Morris can cool. For a week, there doesn’t have to be chatter about SEC officials. For a week, all is right with the Auburn Tigers, and all it took was playing the reigning champs.