The final outing of Oregon quarterback Bo Nix’s decorated collegiate career didn’t pass by without the fifth-year senior making program history Monday during the 45-6 win over Liberty in the Fiesta Bowl. Nix broke a pair of Oregon records held by former Ducks quarterback and Heisman winner Marcus Mariota, surpassing single-season marks for both passing yards and touchdown passes.
Nix used a monster first half — 257 yards and four touchdowns passing — to break the program-record 42 touchdown passes that Mariota set back in 2014. Nix’s third touchdown pass of the game, a 3-yard strike to wide receiver Kenyon Sadiq, was his 43rd of the 2023 campaign. He then completed his 44th touchdown pass of the season with just three seconds to spare in the half when he connected with wide receiver Traeshon Holden in the end zone on a 17-yard pass, giving Oregon a 31-6 lead against the Flames.
Nix also broke a national record that was previously held by former Alabama quarterback Mac Jones. Nix finished the season having completed 77.44% of his passes, which broke Jones’ record for the most accurate passing season in NCAA history. Nix finished the day and his college career 28 of 35 for 363 yards and five touchdowns and was taken out early in the fourth quarter.
Nix then broke Mariota’s single-season Oregon record of 4,454 yards — a mark Mariota also set during his 2014 Heisman run — during the third quarter on his fifth touchdown pass of the game and 45th of the season, a 24-yard pass to Tez Johnson.
Nix, who began his collegiate career at Auburn before transferring to Oregon in 2022, had already surpassed 15,000 career passing yards in the first half of the game after entering Monday with 14,989 passing yards at the NCAA level.
It all makes for a memorable finish to Nix’s college career as the Ducks close in on a 12-win season. Nix’s regular-season efforts earned him a third-place finish in the voting for the Heisman Trophy, coming in behind Washington quarterback Michael Penix and the winner of the award, LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels.
Even with just a two-year stay in Eugene, Oregon, Nix is bound to be a name that is remembered around the program for quite some time thanks to his contributions. Should the Ducks hold on for the win Monday, Nix will end his Oregon tenure with a 22-5 overall record as starter, complete with a New Year’s Six bowl victory.
