Detailing what makes Bo Nix a special player, Heisman candidate
Wednesday, on the On3 Andy Staples Podcast, the resident college football expert brought on the Pac-12 Network’s Yogi Roth as a guest to discuss the conference title game between the Oregon Ducks and Washington Huskies.
The Ducks and Huskies have two of the top offenses in college football this season, led by Heisman-hopeful quarterbacks Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr.
While breaking down the Pac-12 championship game, the two took a moment to review the case for Nix. Staples started off detailing why Oregon’s star quarterback should be this year’s Heisman Trophy winner.
“Bo Nix’s completion percentage is just amazing to me,” said Staples. “He may finish with a 78 percent completion percentage, which would be the highest in the history of the FBS. And they do have a lot of high-confidence passes built into that offense, but he’s going for some air yards quite often.”
The numbers speak for themselves when it comes to Nix’s offensive efficiency this year at Oregon. The Super senior quarterback has thrown for 3906 yards, completing 315 of his 401 pass attempts, good for a 78.6 completion percentage with 37 touchdowns and two interceptions. But what is most impressive is the fact that Nix is averaging nearly 10 yards per reception at 9.7 this season. And that is something Roth believes Heisman voters should take into consideration.
“I’m glad you said that,” opened Roth. “When we called their game a couple of weeks ago and had that graphic up on purpose of: where is he completing the ball? And this is not playing catch; that’s how I describe a lot of those offenses with high-percentage throws [and] completions. He’s playing quarterback. You go back, and you talk to Will Stein, their offensive coordinator; his foundation is based in the West Coast [offense]. So, if we got to stand in the press box and watch Oregon’s offense, you would see a lot of triangles, and he’s got to make that triangle read.
“This is not pure progression; I don’t care what the defense does; just get the ball out to whoever is open and play catch; he’s playing quarterback, and that, to me, is what makes this so impressive. Just look at where he’s throwing the football: down the field, intermediate routes, Tez Johnson over routes, tight ends corner routes, go balls to Troy Franklin. He is thriving at the position.”
Nix could end up being a victim of his own success this season when it comes to the Heisman Trophy race. More often than not, Oregon has dominated their opponents, essentially winning the game within the first three quarters. As a result, head coach Dan Lanning doesn’t require the services of a star quarterback to close out games, leaving Nix with fewer opportunities than Penix and LSU Tigers quarterback Jayden Daniels to bolster his stat line.
With all of that Nix and Oregon have done this season, it is hard for anyone to deny that the Ducks quarterback is a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. However, whether or not the voters see it the same way remains to be seen. And fans will have an answer to that question on Dec. 9.