'The kid was playing on one leg': how Bo Nix battled through injury to help Oregon Ducks to a marquee win
There were times this week when Bo Nix felt like he could hardly walk — let alone lead an offense.
Even when he woke up Saturday morning, Oregon’s star quarterback wasn’t sure if he would be able to take the field. Because, after spending the past three months as the heart and soul of the Ducks’ high-powered offense, injuries reduced Nix to something else in the days leading up to Saturday’s showdown with Utah.
“He was an aggressive rehab specialist,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said with a smile. “That’s how we like to term it. He was attacking rehab religiously.”
Nix spent the past week battling an ankle injury that was serious enough to keep him on the sideline with Oregon’s National Title hopes hanging in the balance against Washington.
Lanning refused to discuss details on his quarterback’s health status, and Eugene was abuzz all week with speculation as to who might start under center against the Utes.
The situation took a bizarre twist when one of Nix’s teammates mistakenly hinted that it would be “next man up” against the Utes.
The truth is, though, nobody knew for certain until roughly 6:30 p.m. on Saturday if Nix would be able to play.
He had never been the subject of a true “game-time decision” in his life prior to this weekend, and he couldn’t be certain how he would feel during pregame warmups.
Once the moment arrived, though, one thought helped Nix push through any remaining barriers.
“I felt like the team deserved my shot. I felt like the team deserved for me to go out there and give them what I had,” Nix said.
With the Ducks’ Pac-12 title hopes on the line Saturday, a hobbled Nix went 25-for-37 with 287 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in a gutsy 20-17 win over the Utes.
Offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham pared down the playbook to account for his quarterback’s limited mobility and set him up with quick, easy looks early in the evening. Nix, who leads the nation in rushing touchdowns among quarterbacks, ran the ball just once all evening.
That one run, though, turned out to be one of the defining moments of Oregon’s season.
Nix’s plunge up the middle on 3rd-and-1 iced the game, putting any hopes of a Utah comeback to rest.
“It certainly was a different game, I don’t think there’s any secret,” Lanning said. “We asked Bo right before that play if we could run the play knowing that the two options were to hand it off or for him to keep it. He said, ‘Absolutely.’
“That guy’s got heart. He cares about the game. He cares about this team and I think it shows in the way he plays.”
Nix said he received treatment on his ankle three or four times each day from Oregon’s training staff throughout the week.
Lanning noted that the “Pac-12 after dark” time slot that the game fell into proved to be a blessing in disguise, as it provided Nix with a bit of extra time to rehab.
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A self-described “physical rep guy,” Nix feels at his best when he is able to spend as much time as possible on the practice field. But the injury meant he could hardly practice.
He credited backup quarterback Ty Thompson for helping him stay locked in.
“Ty Thompson helped me out more than anybody this week because I had to ask him so many questions,” Nix said. “Like, ‘Hey, what are our steps on this? What are we doing on this?’ He was so paying attention and locked in.
“I thought Ty did a great job preparing like he was going to go out there and play the whole game. … He had a great week himself.”
Despite the limitations presented by his injury, Nix still uncorked a few big throws that took the top of the Utah defense.
He found Dont’e Thornton for a 58-yard completion in the first half. Late in the fourth quarter, he moved the Ducks deep into Utah territory with a 50-yard completion to Thornton that was arguably his best throw of the season.
But it was immediately followed by one of his worst — a cross-body attempt to the field side that was intercepted by Utah’s star cornerback, Clark Phillips III.
The play could have closed the book on Nix’s storybook evening.
But, as was the case time and time again on Saturday, the Ducks’ defense immediately came to the rescue.
Senior defensive back Bennett Williams grabbed his second interception of the night to stop the Utes in their tracks. After Oregon’s ensuing drive stalled out, the Ducks’ defense responded with another stop that set the stage for Nix’s game-sealing 3rd-down run.
After the game, Williams was asked to put a value on what Nix’s gritty performance meant to the program.
“The kid was playing on one leg. He came out and did that for us,” Williams said. “It wasn’t just for him to get stats or whatever. He came out and did that for the team knowing that he would give us the best chance to win. He grinded out that last 3rd-and-1; I thought that was pretty impressive. Some big cojones on him for doing that.
“I’m proud of him. That just speaks to how connected this team is and how much we play for each other.”
