Oregon QB Bo Nix set the single-season completion percentage record in the No. 8 Ducks’ overwhelming 45-6 win over No. 23 Liberty on Monday.
Nix entered the game less than two-tenths of a percentage point behind Alabama QB Mac Jones for the best completion percentage in a college football season. Jones finished the 2020 season 311-of-402 passing for 4,500 yards and 41 TDs to just four interceptions and broke former Texas QB Colt McCoy’s 2008 record of 76.7% with a completion percentage of 77.36%.
Monday, the Heisman finalist from Oregon was 28-of-35 passing for 363 yards and five touchdowns before leaving the game just after the start of the fourth quarter. The six incompletions mean Nix finishes the 2023 season 364-of-470 passing for 4,504 yards with 45 touchdowns, three interceptions and a completion percentage of 77.44%.
Four of Nix’s five TD throws came in the second quarter after Liberty had a moment of hope to start the game. The Flames opened the game with the ball and promptly went 75 yards on a possession capped off by a 17-yard TD pass from Kaidon Salter to Bentley Hanshaw. Oregon (11-2) responded with a field goal and Liberty led 6-3 after the first quarter.
It got ugly from there.
Nix found four different receivers for those TD throws in the second period as Oregon made it a laugher by halftime. Liberty’s defense was no match for the Ducks’ offense and Oregon’s defense quickly shut down Liberty’s offense. The Flames punted on each of their next four drives after their opening TD and ran just 18 plays on those possessions. Their sixth possession ended in an interception that was turned into an Oregon touchdown with 3 seconds to go before halftime and a 31-6 lead for the Ducks.
Bo Nix's career renaissance
Nix came to Oregon ahead of the 2022 season after spending the first three seasons of his career at Auburn. He was the Tigers’ starting quarterback in all three of his seasons there, but had thrown just 23 TDs over the last two seasons of his career and averaged less than seven yards an attempt with the Tigers.
He arrived in Eugene with head coach Dan Lanning and offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham (now the head coach at Arizona State) and immediately had the best season of his career. A season ago, Nix completed nearly 72% of his passes for almost 3,600 yards and threw 29 TDs and seven interceptions.
He was even better in 2023 as Oregon made a run at the Pac-12 title. Undefeated Washington was the only team to beat Oregon over the course of the season as the Ducks outscored their opponents by over 27 points per game.
Nix’s stellar years at Oregon could make him a first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Liberty's first New Year's Six game
The previously undefeated Flames (13-1) snuck into their first New Year’s Six bowl game thanks to SMU’s win over Tulane in the AAC title game.
The Green Wave were ahead of the Flames entering conference championship weekend but lost at home to the two-loss Mustangs. The win without starting QB Preston Stone wasn’t good enough for SMU to jump ahead of undefeated Liberty, and the Flames ended the season as the highest-ranked Group of Five team.
There were reasons to be suspicious of Liberty’s chances against the Ducks, however. The Flames had the weakest schedule in the country and didn’t play a single Power Five team. Liberty allowed nearly 23 points per game during the regular season and gave up at least 25 points in seven of its 13 wins.
But Monday’s blowout also doesn’t diminish the growth of the football program. Liberty joined the top level of college football in 2018 and has posted a winning season in all six of its years at the FBS level. The school’s ability to spend money on its football program was a big reason why it lured former Coastal Carolina coach Jamey Chadwell to Lynchburg to replace Hugh Freeze after the 2022 season.
With those vast resources and a relatively weak Conference USA around it, Liberty has a real chance to be a part of the 12-team playoff in 2024 with another undefeated season.
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