Road to the Heisman: What to know about Oregon football quarterback Bo Nix
Before Oregon quarterback Bo Nix is recognized as one of the best players in college football as a Heisman Trophy finalist Saturday night in New York, he was a five-star quarterback from Pinson, Alabama.
The now fifth-year player is one of the most decorated Duck quarterbacks in program history and has led Oregon to back-to-back 10-win seasons at the helm of one of the most explosive and efficient offenses in the country.
Nix leads the country in completion percentage at 77.2% and has thrown for 4,145 yards, 40 touchdowns, and just three interceptions this season, all career-bests.
Here are some things to know about the Ducks' signal caller.
A former five-star standout and Auburn legacy quarterback
Nix, 23, began his college career as one of the best in the state of Alabama. The five-star recruit signed with Auburn out of high school, the same school his dad, Patrick, played quarterback at in the 1990s. Nix started as a true freshman for the Tigers and led them to a come-from-behind win over Justin Herbert and the Ducks in his first career start in 2019.
The Tigers went 9-4 in his freshman season.
Nix went on to start 21 more games for Auburn over the next two seasons before some program changes and struggles on the field led to one of the hardest decisions he had to make in his life.
A trip nearly 3,000 miles northwest
On Dec. 13, 2021, Nix announced he would transfer from his dream school. Six days later, Nix announced he would travel nearly 3,000 miles northwest and continue his college career at Oregon.
“Why not Oregon,” Nix said at the time. “That’s what I told a lot of people. (Oregon) always has great talent. Always well-coached in a good conference. Each and every year they’re always a team that can be in the College Football Playoff, and so that was intriguing.”
Nix joined first-year head coach Dan Lanning in Eugene, along with his former offensive coordinator at Auburn, Kenny Dillingham, who held the same position in 2022 at Oregon.
Nix, and his future wife, Izzy, took the trek to Eugene and have lived in the Pacific Northwest for the last two years.
Nix is a communications major with a 3.62 GPA and is a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, which honors the nation’s top football scholar-athlete.
A star at Oregon
In his first year at Oregon, Nix flourished. Reunited with Dillingham, the junior quarterback threw for a career-high 3,593 yards – over 1,000 more than his next best season – with 29 touchdowns on a 71.9 completion percentage.
In year two, with Dillingham off to Arizona State, but reunited with his adoptive brother, Tez Johnson, who transferred from Troy to play with Nix during his second season, Nix was even better.
Leading the Ducks to another double-digit winning season and all the way to the Pac-12 championship and a Fiesta Bowl berth, Nix again dramatically improved his numbers.
Heisman finalist and projected top NFL draft pick
His performance has elevated him to the pinnacle of college football and made him a finalist for the Heisman Trophy awarded to college football’s best player.
Nix is a projected top NFL draft pick, where many think he will go in the first round and play on Sundays next season.
Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football, volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com and you can follow him on Twitter @AlecDietz.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon QB Bo Nix's journey to becoming a Heisman finalist
