Bo Nix’s status is all up in the air this week as a crucial battle with Utah inside Autzen Stadium looms.

The Oregon quarterback briefly left the game in the fourth quarter of last Saturday’s loss to Washington, and though he was able to return for the final possession of the game, he looked noticeably limited. Nix is dealing with an unspecified lower-body injury. Coach Dan Lanning offered little clarity at his Monday press conference this week, and then took a similar approach during his in-house radio appearance Wednesday evening.

“He’s preparing himself as if he can go,” Lanning said. “But we’ve also got some other guys ready to go if needed.”

If Nix is unavailable, the Ducks would turn to second-year freshman Ty Thompson.

“Ty’s consistently been (the No. 2) for us. He’s been that guy,” Lanning told reporters on Wednesday. (Jay Butterfield)’s done a really great job too and everyone on our team has confidence in Jay. He throws a really good ball and he does a good job. Anybody that’s numbers called, I think will be ready.”

Thompson has only thrown 20 passes this season, completing 11 while throwing two interceptions with no touchdowns. Nix beat him out for the lead job in the offseason. Thompson is one of the highest-rated prospects to sign with Oregon in the recruiting service era, but he’s been picked over multiple times now to begin his career, and when Oregon inserted him into the game late against Washington, it did what everyone in the stadium expected to see — run the football.

But with Nix’s status murky, the Ducks expressed confidence in their backup.

And wideout Kris Hutson seemingly intimated that Thompson has been

“Obviously, Bo is down, so it’s the next man up,” Hutson said told reporters.

The third-year wideout was asked specifically about Thompson’s skillset and about not being able to throw the ball in the Washington game. His answer was certainly revelatory.

“(Thompson’s) good at decision-making. He has a great arm. He can extend plays. He’s learned a lot from Bo, so he’s kind of taken his game to the next level also. Ty is a great player, a great quarterback, very smart. I can’t wait to see him out there ready to go. … We all would love to see Ty go out there and sling the rock, but (last weekend) was a situation where we had to go maneuver out of. But, this game, he’s going to show that to you this weekend.”

The 10th-ranked Utes (8-2, 6-1 Pac-12) and 12th-ranked Ducks (8-2, 6-1 Pac-12) kickoff at 7:30 p.m. PT on ESPN Saturday night.