Does Oregon Have That Dawg In 'Em?
Boeseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcleats.
We already know Bo Nix loves himself a neutral site game.
And to call Oregon’s opener against Georgia a “neutral site game” would be to completely ignore the meaning of the word neutral, but alas.
Atlanta is an hour and sixteen minute drive from UGA’s campus in Athens, which essentially makes this game equivalent to inviting Mario’s Miami Hurricanes to Portland and calling that neutral.
Sidebar: Since the Beavs only have half a stadium this year they are actually playing their Sept. 17th game against Montana State in Portland at Providence Park—where the Thorns and Timbers play. The radio told me that tickets start at $15, and I honestly think OSU should play one PDX game per year from here on out. I think they’ll see a massive turnout from both alumni and general sports fans that don’t always feel like battling I-5 on a Saturday. It’s genius, born from stadium-less-ness.
But it’s all good. Let’s send the Ducks straight into the mouth of the Bulldog and see what kind of football team emerges from the ashes.
Who says we won’t pull off some kind of miracle over the defending national champs? In their own backyard? In arguably the number one stadium in American football right now?
Why not us?
But also—and probably more grounded in reality, where I don’t typically live—it’s really good for a football team to get put through the meat grinder, especially early in the year.
The Ducks were the youngest team in college football last season, and they just added a new coach and quarterback(s). With all that new-ness, it’s pretty much perfect that they get to immediately step out into the bright lights and see what they’re made of.
They’ll get hit in the mouth, and then we’ll see how they respond.
It’s easy to think back to 2019 in Dallas. Oregon stepped up against a strong Auburn team and controlled most of that game in a less-than-neutral, ultra-bright-light NFL stadium.
Now, they did end up snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory, which quickly became Mario Cristobal’s signature move, but I have always believed that the struggle and failure they experienced on that stage was what gave them the fire to ultimately bring home a Pac-12 and Rose Bowl title. They had already been inside the belly of the beast, and they weren’t afraid of anything or anyone from that point on.
And of course, an added connection between that 2019 trip to Dallas and this year’s Atlanta game is the one and only: Boeseph Nix.
Bo was just a bright-eyed freshman phenom when he ended up slinging the game-winning touchdown against the Ducks in Dallas, but he continued to grow while at Auburn, and despite some injury struggles and criticism I think it’s safe to say he grew into a capital G, Good™, quarterback.
Auburn twitter thought so, too:
At his best, Nix has been an electric talent under center. He scrambles around, makes the tough plays, and has a reasonably talented arm. At his worst, he can be a bit of a turnover magnet and sometimes his desire to make that hard play can come back to bite him in the ass.
But that’s pretty much something you could say about most of the most dynamic college QBs of the last twenty years, right?
Plus, as of this summer he’s a married man, so that must come with some kind of improved decision-making, conflict resolution skills, and an overall improvement in quality of life, right?
I don’t think I’m jumping the gun when I say that I at least expect Nix to be the starter against Georgia, and also probably beyond that, too.
Ty Thompson and Jay Butterfield are asked to do the impossible yet again as they sit behind a capable veteran and are being asked to prove that they are the better option—all while another giant, against-all-odds non-conference opponent looms right in front of them. And I’m not sure we’ve seen or heard any indication that they’ve risen to that challenge yet.
But I’m excited to see how Bo Nix, a wiley SEC veteran, can help Dan Lanning and this talented Duck roster turn some heads in The ATL.
They’ll fail, they’ll succeed; and they’ll win, and/or they’ll learn.
Dare I say, this is the year?
Go Ducks.