Four years ago, I was sitting in the saddest Mexican karaoke bar in the Dallas Metropolitan area, cursing the name of Bo Nix.
We were a mile away from AT&T Stadium waiting for the Uber prices to die down, but unbeknownst to us, we were actually just waiting for our enemy-of-the-moment to find his way home.
Bo’s path from beating the Ducks to leading the Ducks has been repeated by broadcasters almost as many times as: “Did you know Tez Johnson is his brother?” But it’ll never get any less surreal.
Somehow, college football changed so drastically, at exactly the right time, that Oregon became home to one of the greatest redemption stories in the history of the sport.
And now that Bo Nix has finally played his last college football game, I figure it’s only right that we dedicate a Ditch to summing up the lows, highs, and almosts of an all-time Duck.
The Lows
Bo’s only legitimate low as a Duck came in the fallout of the Georgia game.
He didn’t even have that bad of a game that day, and if his two picks were somehow a perfect 28-point swing in our direction (they weren’t), we’d still have lost that one 35-17.
But a lot of folks had called him “Bo Pix” since the day he transferred to Oregon, and for that one week, all those dorks felt validated.
I was there in Atlanta for that low moment, and I was back in Eugene the following week against Southern Utah.
Right before kickoff of that Week Two game, I watched a “Duck fan” stand up and yell: “Free Ty!”
I think about that guy sometimes.
But Bo never thinks about that guy, because Bo hasn’t looked back ever since.
The Highs
There are way too many highs to count, but I’ll try.
BYU was when the Bo-We-Know first stepped on the scene.
Pregame hype that day was all-in on Cougar QB Jaren Hall and his apparent NFL upside. CBS Sports’ Aaron Taylor even laughed and said, “…Oregon is still starting Bo Nix, so I think BYU has a significant advantage at the quarterback position.”
Five total touchdowns later, and Bo had the last laugh—and we had our guy.
Then Bo threw five touchdown passes and just six incompletions against ninth-ranked UCLA and a stacked Bruins defense.
Even at Auburn, he was known as the guy who could make a big play, but in Eugene he was going to be more than that.
He was Mr. Efficient—and he’d end up with the best completion percentage ever to show for it.
He had six total touchdowns at Cal (something he’d manage to do in just one half against ASU this year), and then against Colorado he hit for the cycle by throwing, running, and catching a score all in the same game.
He beat Utah with one foot, and he found Chase Cota for the game-winner in the Holiday Bowl.
Was there anything this man couldn’t do?
The Almosts
For better and worse, Bo’s career at Oregon will forever carry a handful of almosts.
He almost won the Heisman. Only a few Ducks can say the same.
He almost lead us to the playoff. Twice.
And he almost beat Washington. Thrice.
But almost only counts in horseshoes and the 1991 national title, apparently.
They brought us to great heights, but it will never be okay that three of the four greatest quarterbacks in program history never played for it all.
Unfortunately, Joey, Justin, and Bo will be relegated to sideline passes if/when the Ducks ever get another shot. And I’d sure like it if we stopped adding to that list for a while.
But to even say Bo’s name in the same breath as the rest of our Mt. Rushmore is pretty insane. We’ve come a long way from twitter memes and depressing Dallas margaritas.
And maybe even more fittingly, Bo capped it all off with one final Fiesta.
Thanks for everything, Bo.
Bo Ducks.
Editor’s Note:
In effort to protect my peace, I’ll be using this Fandango link to find showtimes to watch literally any movie on Monday night.
I suggest you do the same.
Bo fucking Ducks.
I missed this the first time. Great piece.