Dan Lanning, Bo Nix open up on Oregon's early offensive struggles in Fiesta Bowl

Oregon went into the Fiesta Bowl with high hopes but the knowledge that the game wasn’t going to be easy. The Ducks quickly discovered that was the case in the first quarter.

Liberty was there to put up a fight.

“I think we just had to settle in,” coach Dan Lanning said. “They had some success getting hands up on some batted balls that probably would have been successful plays early.”

Oregon’s first couple drives were thrown off by Liberty’s defense. Quarterback Bo Nix also missed a throw or two.

By the time the first quarter ended, the Flames found themselves leading 6-3, having mostly avoided the damage the deadly Ducks offense can do. That would only hold for so long.

“I think we were a batted ball and a poor, inaccurate throw from having success on the first two drives,” Nix said. “But just like we do all year we’ve just got to settle in and continue to go. We knew that the defense was going to continue to get us the ball back, so we just had to go down there and score the first time, and once we did that, once Bucky (Irving) had that long run, that really started things.”

Open things up it did. After clicking into gear, the offense would go on to score four touchdowns in the second quarter, essentially putting the game out of reach.

By halftime Nix was 19-of-25 passing for 257 yards and four touchdowns, all without an interception.

Liberty didn’t have much of a chance at that point, with the Ducks fully locked in and rolling. Things pretty much went according to the plan for Lanning and company.

“We talk about bowl games come down to the team that tackles the best, the team that doesn’t penalize themselves,” Lanning said. “I think we walked out of the day with two penalties, and that’s a big credit to our guys operating really well. But as long as we’re operating in sequence it’s really hard to stop the Ducks.”

Really hard indeed. Oregon finished the day with 584 total yards of offense, including 401 yards passing.

Even with a backup quarterback Oregon managed to move the ball.

The Fiesta Bowl helped cap a highly successful season for Nix, Lanning and the Ducks. Oregon won 12 games for the first time since 2019. It was the third straight season with double-digit wins for the program.