Bo Nix will enter 2023 season with most career starts among active Power 5 quarterbacks
During his debut campaign with the Oregon Ducks, Bo Nix produced one of the greatest individual seasons in program history.
After three seasons as the starting signal-caller at Auburn, Nix revived his career under former Ducks’ offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham. In 13 games, he passed for 3,593 yards and 29 touchdowns while throwing just seven interceptions.
Nix also tallied 14 rushing touchdowns — the most in the nation among quarterbacks.
When the 2022 regular season concluded, many Oregon fans assumed that Nix would declare for the NFL Draft and forgo his final season of college eligibility. He had begun to generate some first-round Draft buzz, and the Ducks were in the midst of finding a new offensive coordinator after Dillingham departed for the Arizona State head coaching job.
But Nix opted to return to Oregon for the 2023 campaign.
“I just wanted to exhaust everything I could in college. I didn’t want to have any regrets,” Nix said while meeting with reporters in April.
Nix’s decision to run it back for his fifth collegiate season immediately vaulted Oregon onto the shortlist of national title contenders.
It also leaves him in a unique position as college football’s most experienced quarterback in terms of career starts.
According to a report from Zach Abolverdi of Gators Online, Nix will enter the 2023 season with 47 career starts under his belt — more than any Power 5 quarterback in the nation.
Notre Dame’s Sam Hartman (45), LSU’s Jayden Daniels (43), and Ole Miss’ Spencer Sanders (42) are the only other Power 5 signal-callers who have started at least 40 career games.
According to Abolverdi, Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. and Arizona’s Jayden de Laura are second among Pac-12 quarterbacks with 29 career starts apiece.
Nix’s experience will be key for an Oregon offense that is replacing four multi-year starters along the offensive line.
The Ducks bolstered their offensive front via the transfer portal during the offseason by adding Ajani Cornelius (Rhode Island), Junior Angilau (Texas), George Silva (Fullerton College), and Nishad Strother (East Carolina).
They also return an abundance of skill-position talent, including running back Bucky Irving, receiver Troy Franklin, and tight end Terrance Ferguson — all of whom received all-Pac-12 honors last season.
“I’ve grown so much off the field and on the field, as a leader and as a teammate,” Nix said in April. “I think it shows now with my confidence out on the field. I have a different sense of awareness when I’m out there. Being in this offense, even though it’s not all the same, I have the concepts down, so it’s not as much thinking as it is just playing.
“It’s matching what I know from what I’ve learned with what I’m being taught and just going out there and playing.”
