Tale of the Tape: Bo Nix vs. Michael Penix Jr.

by Kyle Golik

The Border War between Oregon and Washington has had its fair share of great quarterbacks.

Some notable Oregon Duck quarterbacks over the years have included Norm Van Brocklin, Dan Fouts, Marcus Mariota, and Justin Herbert. Washington has had their fair share of legendary signal callers too, with names like Warren Moon, Mark Brunell, Jake Locker, and Jake Browning having donned the purple and gold.

The rivalry has had some intense quarterback showdowns over the years:

• In 1972, Washington’s Sonny Sixkiller dueled Oregon’s Dan Fouts, the first major quarterback duel in this legendary rivalry. Sixkiller led the Huskies to a 16-0 lead at the half, but Fouts rallied Oregon back with two second-half touchdowns. With 12 seconds to go, an outstanding pass breakup in the end zone by Washington on Fouts spoiled the comeback bid.
• The Battle of the Chris’s happened in 1986 when Oregon’s Chris Miller faced off against Washington’s Chris Chandler. Miller was seeking to become Oregon’s all-time passing leader but was denied by the Huskies. Chandler helped coordinate a ground game that ran for 305 yards, with Chandler scoring two rushing touchdowns to beat Oregon 38-3.
• In the build-up to their special 1991 national championship team, a lot of the foundations for that occurred in the 1990 clash between the Huskies Mark Brunell and Oregon’s Bill Musgrave. With both teams ranked, Brunell was efficient in the air and on the ground with 249 total yards (193 passing, 56 rushing) with two rushing scores. Musgrave dealt with a Huskies defense that was starting to come to form but still threw for 302 yards.
• At the dawn of the 21st Century, Oregon’s Joey Harrington played spoiler for Washington’s magical season, giving the Huskies their only loss in the 2000 season. Washington’s Marques Tuiasosopo finished 14 of 37 for 229 and two interceptions, and Harrington was efficient and showed glimpses of what was to come in Oregon for him.
• Future Oregon Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota put on a show with Washington’s Keith Price in 2013. With Price fighting the Huskies back within a touchdown to end the third quarter, it would be Mariota’s monster fourth quarter helped give Oregon a 45-24 win. Mariota finished 24 for 31 passing for 366 yards and three passing touchdowns, along with 88 yards rushing and a rushing touchdown.
• 2018 was a classic between the prodigy in Oregon’s Justin Herbert and veteran quarterback in Washington’s Jake Browning. In the 30-27 overtime thriller win for Oregon, that snapped the Huskies two-game winning streak.
  

When the 115th encounter of the rivalry dubbed “The Cascade Clash” kicks off in Seattle, the rivalry will have its most highly anticipated quarterback duel in rivalry history when Oregon’s Bo Nix and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. square off.

Both Nix and Penix are contenders not just for the Heisman Trophy but have aspirations that include a Pac-12 Championship, College Football Playoff berth, and, most importantly, bragging rights over the other. Let's take a deeper dive into just how good each of these quarterbacks are, and what they mean to their respective teams.

Bo Nix

Nix was an Auburn legacy recruit when he committed to Auburn University. During his time on The Plains, Nix floundered, never reaching his full potential for a litany of reasons.

When Nix entered the transfer portal, he was looking for that last opportunity to maximize his potential. Through 18 starts at Oregon, Nix has been responsible for 60 touchdowns (44 pass, 15 rush, 1 receiving). In contrast, playing in 34 career games at Auburn, Nix was responsible for 57 total touchdowns (39 pass, 18 rush). It seems Oregon has fit the bill for Nix.

With his next start, Nix will tie Jake Browning (Washington) and Clayton Thorson (Northwestern) for most career starts in NCAA history with 53.

The experienced Nix has translated on the field as Nix leads the nation this season with an 80.4% completion percentage. Since 2000, only Robert Griffin III (Baylor) and Geno Smith (WVU) are the only quarterbacks with an 80% or higher completion percentage with a minimum of 100 passes through the first five games of the season.

Nix, in crucial third and long situations (seven to nine yards), has been perfect passing this season, completing all eight passes and converting four of those to first downs.

Scroll to Continue

Recommended Articles

Featured

It’s Time For Lincoln Riley To Make The NFL Jump

College Football

WATCH: UCF Coaching Search Focused on Two Candidates

College Football

WATCH: Family Has NFL Preference For Arch Manning

With Oregon's offense humming at 51.6 points per game (No. 2 in the nation), Nix has helped the team get out to fast starts, as the Ducks lead the nation in first half, scoring at 30.6 points per game. They are also tied with Penn State with the fewest turnovers in the country with one. Nix has been a master conductor so far for the potent Ducks offense.

“We’ve got the best quarterback in the nation. I know that. I see that,” Lanning said after Oregon’s 42-6 victory over Colorado, “You see all the plays that he throws and all the plays he makes with his feet, but you guys don’t see all the checks that he makes, you don’t see what he does for this team. You don’t see his leadership. He sent a text this morning to me that was impactful for me. That guy shapes me. That guy makes me a better person. We’ve got that guy on our team, so we’re so blessed to have him.”

Michael Penix Jr.

Much like Nix, who was seeking to maximize his skills, Penix knew where to go to find the coach who he had the best chemistry with.

In 2020, Penix and then Indiana offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer found a chemistry that was electric that gave the Hoosiers their most successful season since the Anthony Thompson days of the late 1980s.

When DeBoer became Washington's head coach in 2022, it was crystal clear where Penix wanted to go.

The combination of DeBoer and Penix has reinvigorated “Purple Reign,” winning 16 of 18, averaging 47 points per game over those games, and includes a 37-34 win over Oregon last season, the program’s first since 2017. This season, Penix has been nothing short of electric once again, leading the nation in passing offense (446.4 yards per game), total offense (569.4 yards per game), and the No. 3 scoring offense at 46 points per game.

Penix, with his elite wide receiving group of Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan, and Ja’Lynn Polk, has notched 43 scrimmage plays of 20 or more yards over its first five games, the highest per-game average in the nation.

UW also leads the nation on a per-game average with 23 plays of 30 yards or more. Those high-impact plays include 35 passes from Penix of 20 or more yards and 19 of 30 or more, both tops in the nation. Penix also leads FBS with 78 completions of 10 yards or more through five games this season.

“Mike has a high, high standard. High expectations. These guys are very critical of themselves. We’re all critical of ourselves,” DeBoer said following Washington’s 31-24 win over Arizona. “That’s what you love to see, that your leaders are those types of guys. Just talking with him, it’s a play here, play there. It’s a great game he played — 75% completion, didn’t try to force things, really was in control the entire time. But, really, he’s just looking at one play. Whether it was him or one play someone else could have made or one opportunity that’s missed. I love that about him.”

The Verdict

With the first ever Top 10 matchup between Oregon and Washington this Saturday, a legitimate case can be made for both Penix and Nix.

Both have been electric and put up electric numbers this season, both pass the eye test, both have intangibles that make their teams better. This is the splitting of hairs.

My edge goes to Penix and it is razor thin.

Penix just from watching, I am in awe of how fluid all his mechanics are and the throws he makes.

I honestly feel every time Penix drops back it has an opportunity to be a big play and what we have seen this season it usually is.

Even in Penix’s most difficult task this season against Arizona, the Wildcats held Penix without a touchdown pass, but he still was effective and efficient leading Washington to a win.

A case can be made for Nix, this is how close the comparison between the two are, but I lean slightly towards Penix.