Bo Nix had one of the most dominant games by a Division I quarterback this season! He made his case for the Heisman in Saturday’s 49-13 rout by his No. 6 Oregon Ducks against the Arizona State Sun Devils. The game was all Oregon from the first possession, as Patrick Herbert caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Nix to cap off a 75-yard drive. Herbert would follow up on the next drive with another touchdown, this time for 49 yards. Nix would tack on more points, with a beautiful pass to star receiver Troy Franklin making the score 21-0 after just one quarter.
The Oregon Ducks continued their assertive play into the second, putting up three more touchdowns to give them a 42-0 lead going into Halftime. Although the Ducks stalled in the second half offensively, only scoring one touchdown, their complete dominance in the first was more than enough to allow them to coast to victory. Nix was eventually replaced by backup Ty Thompson early in the second but, by that point, he had already thrown for 404 yards and six touchdowns. He finished with only five incomplete passes on the day. Troy Franklin caught eight passes on nine targets for 128 yards and two touchdowns.
Speaking on his team’s performance postgame, Franklin said, “We don’t play down to a level. We’re a consistent team when it comes to our play”.
The Ducks finished with 603 yards of total offense on the day. Although the Oregon defense completely shut down the injury-laden Arizona State offense in the first half, the Sun Devils were able to find some slight ground in the second. They put up two field goals from kicker Dario Longhetto and added a late, 15-yard touchdown from Melquan Stovall to avoid the shutout.
Photo Cred: AZ Central
The Sun Devils ended with 316 yards of total offense, and quarterback Trenton Bourguet finished with 142 yards on 20/37 passing. Both teams will face their in-state rivals next week, as Arizona State hosts the Arizona Wildcats in Tempe. Oregon will return home to Autzen Stadium in Eugene to face the No. 15 Oregon State Beavers in the game formerly known as “The Civil War”.
