Oregon Quarterback Bo Nix Expected to Play in Holiday Bowl According to Dan Lanning

Amid injury and NFL Draft speculation, it looks like Nix will play at least one more game for the Ducks.

Author:
Graham Metzker
Publish date:
Dec 5, 2022 5:10 PM EST

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Oregon Ducks

Even before it was announced that the Oregon Ducks football would be playing in the Holiday Bowl against North Carolina, it looked like they'd gotten some good news regarding their star quarterback Bo Nix.

He took to social media to share a message with fans, writing "Running into Bowl week...Who's ready?"

On Sunday night head coach Dan Lanning shared that he expects Nix to play in the Holiday Bowl against the Tarheels.

"Bo's a competitor he wants to get out there and play in this game for sure," Lanning told reporters in a press conference Sunday night.

It's been a turbulent past few weeks for Nix and Oregon to say the least. Nix and Oregon were flying towards the College Football Playoff and even a possible Heisman Trophy ceremony. That was until Oregon bumped into Washington.

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Nix picked up an ankle injury against the Huskies, back on November 12 that carried over into the final regular season games for the Ducks. Nix's absence on a crucial fourth quarter drive against the Huskies, combined with a huge Michael Penix Jr. 62-yard touchdown pass, gave the Huskies a 37-34 win.

The subsequent weeks were a rollercoaster for the Ducks and their signal caller. Against Utah, the Ducks emerged victorious with a 20-17 win behind a gusty Nix performance, as it was obvious Nix's right ankle was still a nuisance.

That nuisance was more glaring in the War on the Willamette, when Oregon State came back to beat Oregon 38-34 in a heart-crushing comeback. The loss meant Oregon was out of the Pac-12 Championship, and essentially out of contention for any New Year's six bowl game.

Alex Forsyth, Bo Nix and former Oregon offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham after a loss to Oregon State.
Scott Boldt/Ducks Digest

First and foremost, regarding Nix's decision to play, it shows the character of Nix is infallible. The easy, and most popular, decision in this scenario would be to bow out of the bowl game and declare for the 2023 NFL Draft.

The fact that Nix is staying for one more game shows that he cares greatly for the Ducks. Oregon travels to San Diego for the Holiday Bowl down 10 players who have entered the transfer portal as of Monday morning as well as former offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham who accepted the head coaching job at Arizona State.

Nix playing in the bowl game could indicate he plans to stay at Oregon and use his final year of eligibility -- with hefty of emphasis on the word could. Nix could stick around to see Jordan Sommerville coach the quarterbacks and get a sense of what Oregon's passing game may look like in 2023.

And because of the ankle injury, Nix's draft stock that was once soaring to incredible heights is a bit uncertain.

However, amid all of this is speculation, Nix's decision to play against North Carolina could be another example of his commitment to this Oregon squad, and not necessarily the next one. It also could be a chance to improve his draft stock one more time with a good performance.

All in all, speculations have been soaring through the Oregon Ducks football world for weeks now since the Oregon State loss. It's nice to have something solidified for the bowl game in Nix, even if it's the last time he dons the Ducks' green and yellow.