With a towel draped around his head, Bo Nix, the quarterback and unquestioned leader of the University of Oregon Ducks, watched in silence as University of Washington Huskies running back Dillon Johnson caught a pitch from Huskies quarterback Michael Penix Jr., bursting forward for a gain of 18 yards on third and nine, ending Oregon’s chances of securing their fifth Pac-12 championship in the conference’s final year of existence.
Nix, 23, has been playing college football since 2019, beginning his career at Auburn University. In a peculiar twist of fate, Nix’s first start as a true freshman saw him lined up opposite Oregon, the team he would join via the transfer portal three years later.