National

Bo Nix leads No. 15 Oregon to thrilling comeback win over Washington State

Bo Nix is never boring.

Nix had a whole lot of ups and downs during his time as the starting quarterback at Auburn. Now at Oregon, he experienced both during a thrilling 44-41 road win for the No. 15 Ducks over Washington State in Pullman.

Nix and the Ducks were miserable in the red zone in the first half. Not only did Oregon settle for three short field goals, Nix threw an interception that was returned 95 yards for a touchdown to allow Washington State to go into halftime with a 17-9 lead.

Washington State held onto that lead throughout the third quarter and went into the fourth with a 27-15 advantage. But then Nix and the Ducks got hot.

Oregon scored touchdowns on three of its four fourth-quarter possessions, flipping that 27-15 deficit into a 37-34 advantage. Two of those touchdowns came in a span of just over two minutes.

First, Nix led the Ducks 75 yards in 11 plays to cut Washington State’s lead to 34-29 with 3:50 to play. On the ensuing possession, Washington State went three-and-out and managed to drain only 59 seconds off the clock in the process.

After the WSU punt, Nix needed only a minute to put the Ducks ahead for the first time. After a few runs, Nix hit Troy Franklin in stride for a 50-yard touchdown. Nix then ran in the two point conversion to give the Ducks a 37-34 advantage.

Washington State still had 1:29 to either tie the game with a field goal or even win the game with a touchdown. Instead, disaster struck when Cameron Ward was picked off by Mase Funa. Funa, the 255-pound outside linebacker, rumbled 29 yards for a touchdown.

That touchdown proved to be a big one as WSU would score in the final seconds, but it was too little too late for the Cougars.