After A 5-TD Performance In A Signature Win, It SEEMS Safe To Say Bo Nix Has Finally, Actually Arrived
Given the generally turbulent and rocky collegiate career path Bo Nix has had, I really hope I'm not jinxing him here. Because holy shit, can this man sling it, and he and AP No. 10 Oregon stuck it to the ninth-ranked UCLA Bruins in Eugene, Oregon.
Ever since he had to face a Georgia defense with future NFL players at virtually every position, Nix has pretty much lit it up amid a welcome change of scenery from Auburn to Oregon. However, today was the grand stage and the big test everyone was looking for Nix to pass. And did he ever.
This sick bomb to Troy Franklin is just the latest example that proves the physical tools that made Nix a No. 1 recruit are still very much intact.
Nix literally threw this ball almost 60 yards in the air with touch. It's one thing to use all the force in your biological being to heave it that deep. It's entirely something else to put it that on the money with a UCLA defender in decent-enough coverage.
And that was the second of his five TD throws on the afternoon. It's always fun when QBs have a comparable amount of scoring tosses as incompletions. That was Nix on Saturday against the previously undefeated Bruins. Five tuds. Six incompletions on 28 attempts for 283 yards. Oh, and he ran for 51 yards on eight carries.
Check out this fifth and final strike on 4th and 4, as Nix scans the middle of the field, doesn't like it and fires a frozen rope to the wheel route on the sidelines. SIIIIIIICK.
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You could make the argument that Nix "arrived" when he beat Alabama as a true freshman at Auburn in 2019, yet that game was more about defensive TDs and a solid running game than him. From then on it was a total roller-coaster. I was getting Mitch Mustain vibes. The blue-chip, can't miss prep star who flashed insane ability from the jump, and despite obvious inconsistency, the upside was so obvious.
I bring up Mustain because it would've been pretty easy for Nix to follow a similar trajectory and fade into relative obscurity. To be from Alabama, to spurn the Crimson Tide for the archrival Tigers and to get the keys to the offense as a true frosh? Everything was setting up to be a storybook career. Until it wasn't. Nothing but adversity, frustratingly uneven place and unfulfilled potential.
Credit Nix for picking himself up time and again, capitalizing on the new transfer rules and finding a better fit as he avenges some of those lost years at Auburn. Saturday marked the end for anyone who wants to talk shit about this guy. At least for now!
There are few things in all of sports more aesthetically pleasing than quality quarterback play, never mind someone with Nix's brand of freakish arm talent. If he keeps making these types of plays and demonstrates continued progress in decision-making, perhaps Nix can actually carve himself a path toward being a decent NFL Draft prospect.
Twitter @MattFitz_gerald/TikTok