Dan Lanning confirms Bo Nix will play in the Fiesta Bowl

In some sense, Oregon’s loss in the Pac-12 Championship on Friday ended the collegiate career of QB Bo Nix. However, per his head coach, the Ducks’ quarterback is going to give it one more go in the Fiesta Bowl.

Dan Lanning addressed the status of a handful of his players in a press conference for Oregon’s bowl game against Liberty on New Year’s Day. From what was said in Eugene this morning, he has no doubts about Nix suiting up in Glendale when the Ducks face off with the Flames.

“We’ve gotten some clarity this morning. I think some of those guys? It’s probably fair for me to let them have that opportunity to let you guys know that they want to go play. But I can say, definitively, that Bo Nix wants to go play in this game,” said Lanning. “He told his teammates the same thing this morning when we met as a team.”

“I think he wants that opportunity to go out on the field one more time and there’s several other guys that have made that same decision,” said Lanning.

In his second season with Oregon, Nix has put himself in contention for The Heisman Trophy. He threw for a career-high of 4,145 yards, good for second most in the nation. He also posted career-bests of 40 touchdowns, tied for the most in the country, and just three picks. His efficiency continued with the No. 1 completion rate in the nation at 77.2%, three percent better than the quarterback at No. 2.

That’s before you even include his 228 rushing yards and six additional scores on the ground.

Lanning understands this is a significant decision for Nix as it is for all of his draft eligible players. Still, he believes this could serve for a final moment for several of them to say goodbye to the program as well as to college football.

“I think everybody has to make the best decision for them. That’s something I encourage our players to do. I have a lot of confidence in this team and confidence in the way they’ve worked all season. I know how these guys operate and how they want to finish,” said Lanning. “I’m certainly excited for Bo and his opportunity. I think it means a lot to him to get to wear that Oregon uniform one last time. He has meant the world to this place and I think this place has meant the world to him. But I think there’s a lot of players on our team that have that same feeling. The opportunity for our seniors to get to go play in a game like this against Liberty is something that’s pretty exciting for them.”

“As we go, we’ll continue to get more clarity of what that looks like,” Lanning said. “These guys are excited to go play this game. Our entire team’s excited to go back out there one last time and cap off an elite season for us.”