Dan Lanning takes jab at Brian Kelly, LSU while defending Bo Nix for Heisman

Oregon Dominate Oregon State, Advance to Pac 12 Title

With the college football regular season coming to an end last weekend, the Heisman Trophy race nears the finish line as voters will soon be tasked with determining who was the best player of the 2023 season.

LSU head coach Brian Kelly has been campaigning for his quarterback Jayden Daniels to take home the award, notably telling voters to, “Vote early, vote often for Jayden Daniels” during the Paul Finebaum Show on Monday.

Oregon quarterback Bo Nix is also one of the top contenders to take home the Heisman Trophy this year, and when Ducks head coach Dan Lanning was asked about Kelly’s campaigning for Daniels, he responded with a slight jab at the Tigers while making the case for his respective quarterback.

“Well Bo’s obviously an elite player, and we’re still playing football and I think that speaks to the caliber of player that Bo is,” Lanning said.

Oregon is one of 10 Power Five teams that will be competing for a conference championship this weekend, finishing the regular season with just one loss with the chance to redeem themselves in the Pac-12 Championship game in a rematch against Washington.

LSU did not have similar fortune this year, finishing the regular season 9-3 with losses all coming from teams currently ranked within the top 15 of the latest AP Top 25.

“The fact that we’re competing for a championship, [Nix] leads the nation in passing, I don’t memorize all of Bo’s statistics, but just watch Bo play and watch how much of a difference he makes for us,” Lanning said.

Wins and losses aside, statistically there’s no question that Nix and Daniels are two of the top players in the country. Nix ends the regular season as the nation’s leader in passing yards and completion percentage, with Daniels taking the cake as the passing touchdowns leader with the highest passer rating in the country.

They’ve both also been impressive on the ground this season making plays in the run game, a category no quarterback in the country has been able to keep pace with Daniels in. But at the end of the day, Lanning knows where the priorities of his quarterback currently lie with a conference title on the line this Friday.

“But just as important of that award, what that is to Bo and our team, he’s more excited about getting to play in a championship game this weekend and I think anybody that’s watched Bo Nix play, and the caliber he’s played, recognizes that he definitely deserves merit for that award,” Lanning concluded.