Bo Nix's first year at Oregon looks a lot like Marcus Mariota's Heisman season
Bo Nix has been playing at a Heisman level. We’ve been saying as such for weeks.
And for any who aren’t quite ready to buy the hype, the Pac-12 Network’s Ashley Adamson shared an interesting comparison earlier this week. Nix’s current eight-game season looks awfully familiar to the first eight games of Marcus Mariota’s Heisman Trophy-winning campaign at Oregon in 2014.
We know Bo Nix has been putting up absurd numbers.
Check out Mariota's stats (through 8 games) during his Heisman season as a reference point to underscore just how special @BoNix10 has been. pic.twitter.com/YF8D9YvV9H
— Ashley Adamson (@AdamsonAshley) November 3, 2022
Nix’s 31 total touchdowns rank second among all FBS players, only trailing North Carolina’s Drake Maye (32). He’s been a machine for the Ducks since a Week 1 loss to Georgia in Atlanta, with four games scoring at least five total touchdowns in his last seven. He’s completing a strong percentage of his passes, and he’s not putting the ball in danger the way he developed a reputation of doing at Auburn.
Nix currently has the fifth-best odds of any player to win the trophy this season.
Of course, there are a few notable differences between the two. Through eight games in 2014, Mariota had only one interception and Oregon hadn’t lost a game by 46 points. Nix has the unsightly 49-3 season-opening loss to Georgia on his résumé, and as strong as his play has been in the seven games since then, Oregon is 7-1, not 7-0.
Nix also has five interceptions. A case can be made for absolving him of one or two, but Mariota finished his Heisman season with four total picks in 15 games. He also tossed 42 touchdowns.
The mercurial-turned-unflinchingly-steady Nix will need to keep it going, but this partnership has been an unequivocal success to this point.
“I don’t think anyone can sit here and watch football right now and watch our quarterback play and tell me he’s not an elite quarterback,” Lanning told reporters after the UCLA win. “This guy’s playing at an extremely high level. He makes great decisions for our team.
“You can’t watch a football game right now and say that guy’s not elite. He’s an elite competitor, he’s an elite leader, he has phenomenal character, he’s throwing the ball really well, and he’s making great decisions. He’s humble and I think everybody on our team is excited about his success.”
No. 8 Oregon faces Colorado on the road Saturday at 12:30 p.m. PT on ESPN.