Bo Nix has a variety of name, image and likeness deals and another one might need to be in the works after Oregon’s quarterback worked some voodoo magic to rally the Ducks from a 10-point deficit with 9:13 to go in the Holiday Bowl.
With the two-touchdown favorite Ducks down 24-14, Nix closed a dramatic comeback by going 9 of 10 for 103 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning six-yard score to Chase Cota on fourth and 2 with 19 seconds to play in No. 15 Oregon’s 28-27 win over North Carolina on Wednesday night at Petco Park.
During Oregon’s timeout with 24 seconds to play, Nix called the play that completed the rally: Doughnut.
“That’s one of our just go-to plays,” Nix said. “We feel really good about that play. We’ve run it multiple times. It’s hard to stop against guys in good situations. It puts Troy (Franklin) and (Terrance Ferguson) and Chase and those guys in situations to do what they do best.
“Sure enough, they brought house blitz. Chase knows over and over that that’s the throw. If we get house, he is going to get a natural pick there going across the middle, and Bucky (Irving) did a great job of picking up the protection, and we threw it over the middle and got a completion for a touchdown.”
It was a fitting final act of the 2022 season for Nix, who came to Oregon from Auburn to reunite with offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham and help lead the Ducks to compete for a Pac-12 championship and potential College Football Playoff bid. Until Nix got hurt against Washington, those dreams were still possible.
Dillingham left to become the head coach at Arizona State, but Nix maintained the autonomy he had all season to make adjustments and call plays. Interim offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer called plays on Wednesday, but Nix got the final say with the game on the line.
“Bo did a good job calling what he wanted on that one. But we’re all in agreement you believe in your quarterback,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “Credit to Bo and credit to Drew and the offensive staff and every single player on offense. They had belief in what we were going to run and how we were going to execute it, and when the suggestion was made, it was like, ‘Hell yeah, let’s run that.’”
It was also fitting for Cota, the Oregon legacy whose career began at UCLA, to be on the receiving end of the deciding score. Cota had all three of his catches for 42 yards in the final 9:03.
“The whole bowl prep against our defense, we never got that look once, but then we got it here on our practice site for the bowl one time and we missed it and went over it, and sure enough it showed up in the game it was the same exact one,” Cota said. “It was perfect. Bo saw it, it was an easy touchdown.”
When it was time to make the doughnuts, Nix delivered.
“It’s an option route, and there’s a lot of different angles, so it’s hard to stop from a defensive point of view,” said Nix, who was 23 of 30 for 205 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. “As much as we hit that, that’s where my mind went at fourth and 2 from the 6-yard line. That’s what I want to call because we had the most reps at it, and I know exactly where each guy is going to be.
“Chase did a good job of getting over across the field in man coverage and looking the ball in and catching it, and getting in the end zone. Extremely proud of Chase. He deserved that.”
Even after the heroics from Nix and Cota, Camden Lewis’ PAT to give Oregon the lead bounced off the left upright and through.
“We talked about coming in tonight and really finishing the season with not a period, but an exclamation point,” Lanning said. “And I would say that was an exclamation point.”
-- James Crepea reported from San Diego.