Oregon
Oregon football quarterback Bo Nix sets a few more records before heading off to the NFL
GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Bo Show — as entertaining as it was successful — wrapped up its two-year run at Oregon Monday afternoon.
And the star, quarterback Bo Nix, made sure to leave with a few records.
Nix led the Ducks to one last victory before heading off to the NFL, as he threw for five touchdowns and 363 yards in Oregon’s 45-6 win against Liberty in the Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium.
During the game he broke Marcus Mariota’s single-season school records for yards and touchdowns as his 14-game 2023 totals increased to 4,508 and 45, respectively.
Mariota had 4,454 and 42 during his Heisman Trophy winning season.
“I played good football this year because of the opportunity and the situation that I was in,” Nix said. “It wasn’t difficult to go out there and play with the guys that I was around. … As a team, I felt like we set the bar really high. We had a standard and we just wanted to go out there and match it every Saturday.”
Nix also extended his single-season school record for completions to 364 as he completed 28-of-35 passes to also set the NCAA single-season record for completion percentage at 77.45%.
“That completion percentage is important because it speaks to a lot of people,” Nix said. “It doesn’t speak to just one person. Everybody that the ball is thrown to, they gotta catch it and they got to do something with it. And then you’ve got to protect too. Everybody was included. So I think it’s just a great team accomplishment. I think it was just an awesome way for this year to conclude.”
Nix, who finished third in Heisman Trophy voting in December and was the Pac-12 offensive player of the year, said he knew the records were out there for the taking coming into the game and credited the coaching staff for setting him up to have success.
“It was hard not to think about it because you’re so close to something that you worked so hard for and that the season has led up to,” Nix said. “I just give praise to the coaches. I think they did a good job of calling the game and when they call the game like they do, and we go out and execute, it just kind of happens.”
With that, Nix’s collegiate career came to end after five seasons of being the starter at Auburn (2019-21) and Oregon (2022-23).
He was 22-5 with the Ducks, with wins in two bowl games.
“He’s done a lot for this program,” said coach Dan Lanning, who’s never had another starting quarterback at Oregon other than Nix. “He’s played a lot of elite ball and we’re really proud of him.”
One of Nix’s losses this season came in the Pac-12 championship game on Dec. 1, a loss that motivated him to play in the Fiesta Bowl during a time when several of his projected first-round draft pick peers are opting out of the postseason.
“I wanted to go out and compete one more time,” Nix said. “I wanted to go out and play another game. And with the year that we had, it would have been a shame if I didn’t go out there and compete with the guys who who made it all possible. … After what happened on Dec. 1, I couldn’t wait to go back out there and compete one more time and if I had the opportunity I was going to go use it.”
Nix leaves as the NCAA record-holder for starts by quarterback with 61. He’s also second all-time with 17,344 career yards, fourth with 152 touchdowns, sixth with 15,352 passing yards and seventh with 1,286 completions.
“I feel like I have played a lot of football, but you know, every time I went out there, it slowed down more and more and by the end of it, I just had a really comfortable feeling,” Nix said. “I think this year with what we were doing offensively, schematically, we’re very efficient and part of that is because the players we have on our side of the ball, and you know, it’s been a great career.”
Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com
Oregon
Oregon women’s basketball locks down UC Irvine for second straight win
To wrap up non-conference play, Oregon women’s basketball picked up its second straight win with a 71-43 victory over UC Irvine on Thursday night at Matthew Knight Arena.
The Ducks (9-3, 0-1 Big Ten) were led by freshman guard Katie Fiso with 11 points. Fiso was recently away from the team for a stretch due to the sudden passing of her father, and she put in a complete performance for Oregon in the blowout win Thursday.
Supplementing Fiso in the scoring department was Alexis Whitfield (10 points) and Peyton Scott (nine points). 10 different Ducks scored on a night when they held UC Irvine to just 25% shooting.
It was an ugly start from the field for both teams, as the Anteaters and Ducks combined to shoot 0-11 to begin the night. Oregon scored the first basket of the game nearly five minutes in, a layup by Sarah Rambus.
A 14-0 run by the Ducks broke the game open, however, with a three-pointer by Scott making it 15-3 Oregon.
Midway through the second quarter, spreading the ball around and getting quality looks, Oregon extended its lead to 27-7 with a 9-0 run. At that point, the Ducks’ shooting percentage ticked up to 44% while the Anteaters were shooting just 6%.
In the process, Scott surpassed 2,000 points for her collegiate career, stretching between her time at Miami (Ohio) and Oregon. She became the eighth active player to reach that mark.
The Ducks relented slightly in the late second quarter, allowing a 7-0 run to cut their lead down to 34-18. They led at the half, 36-20.
Scott got right back to work in the second half, nailing a three-pointer on the opening possession to give Oregon a 39-20 lead.
The Ducks went cold, though, going more than five minutes without a basket as the quarter waned on. But a 12-0 run over a four-minute span to end the third quarter gave Oregon a 55-29 lead heading into the fourth.
Fiso controlled the fourth quarter with mostly substitutes in the game for both teams, hitting her fifth basket to get into double-digit scoring on the night. The Ducks maintained a significant advantage down the stretch and walked away with another lop-sided home win.
It was a holiday sendoff for the Ducks as well, with head coach Kelly Graves rocking a Christmas sweater that featured a rubber ducky wearing a Santa hat.
Next game: Oregon (9-3, 0-1 Big Ten) at Illinois (9-2, 0-1)
- When: Saturday, Dec. 28
- Time: 12 p.m. PT
- Where: State Farm Center — Champaign, Illinois
- TV: B1G+
- Radio: Oregon Sports Network
— Ryan Clarke covers the Oregon Ducks and Big Ten Conference. Listen to the Ducks Confidential podcast or subscribe to the Ducks Roundup newsletter.
Oregon
Oregon’s incoming attorney general announces ‘cabinet’ to strategize Trump response
Oregon’s incoming attorney general says he doesn’t need an infusion of cash to fund legal fights against the Trump administration next year. Instead, he’s looking for better intel from Democratic allies.
To that end, Attorney General-elect Dan Rayfield announced Thursday he’s creating a new “Federal Oversight and Accountability Cabinet” to give advocacy groups, unions and others a direct line to his office. It’s a way, Rayfield said, for people impacted by the new administration’s policies — likely to include steps like widespread deportations and environmental deregulation — to communicate those impacts to the office responsible for fighting what it considers federal overreach.
“If there were an attack on reproductive health,” Rayfield said, offering an example of the group’s utility, “we will have feelers out into the community, so that the state of Oregon can be more responsive and nimble in terms of protecting our values.”
A roster of participants in Rayfield’s proposed cabinet reads like a who’s who of prominent left-leaning groups, including public-sector labor unions, the ACLU of Oregon, the state’s largest Planned Parenthood affiliate, Basic Rights Oregon, and the Oregon League of Conservation Voters. It also includes a pair of law professors, and is expected to rope in healthcare organizations that may be impacted if Trump attempts to cut Medicaid funding.
Rayfield told OPB the membership isn’t about picking favorites.
“It’s more issue-based on where the most likely impact is coming from the federal government,” he said. “It’s the high-impact areas where we think Oregon has stuck its neck out.”
The announcement comes as Democratic states around the country are preparing possible responses to a litany of campaign promises Trump made on the campaign trail. Those responses inevitably include state attorneys general, who repeatedly challenged Trump policies in court during his first term. Outgoing Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum participated in dozens of lawsuits against the Trump administration during that time, often joining forces with the same group of more than a dozen Democratic-led states.
Following Trump’s victory in November, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, called a special session in order to set aside $25 million to challenge Trump’s actions in court. In a proposed budget unveiled earlier this month, Gov. Tina Kotek included a smaller infusion: $2 million to the Oregon Department of Justice to respond to federal actions.
Rayfield said that money might not be necessary.
“I think that there are ways to creatively work within the DOJ to meet the needs in Oregon,” he said. “It’s not like those things are done easily. You have to make sure that you’re utilizing resources and not taking away from other existing work.”
Among those planning to participate in Rayfield’s group is Melissa Unger, executive director of the state’s largest labor union, Service Employees International Union Local 503. Unger said Thursday her members are concerned about possible attempts to cut Medicaid, restrict access to abortions and deport undocumented immigrants.
“If things emerge that do not uphold Oregon’s values or the ways voters have spoken… how do we make sure that we’re standing up for Oregonians?” Unger said. “Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe it’s something. But having people prepared to engage in this discussion is an opportunity.”
Also involved in the cabinet will be Joe Baessler, executive director of Oregon AFSCME Council 75, another large public-sector union. Baessler said he only learned about the new group on Wednesday, but he welcomed the approach.
“One of the things that was really frustrating with previous AGs was, like, ‘Sorry, we’re lawyers. We’re not going to tell you what’s going on,’” Baessler said. “It’s good they are talking about how they communicate the work they’re doing.”
Leading the new advisory group are DOJ attorneys Dustin Buehler and Fay Stetz-Walters. Rayfield said he hasn’t set any meeting dates for the group.
A roster of participants in the planned cabinet includes:
- Joe Baessler, Executive Director, Oregon AFSCME
- Sandy Chung, Executive Director, ACLU of Oregon
- Prof. Greg Dotson, University of Oregon School of Law
- Dr. Sara Kennedy, CEO, Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette
- Kyndall Mason, Executive Director, Basic Rights Oregon
- Isa Peña, Director of Strategy, Innovation Law Lab
- Jeremiah Rigsby, Chief of Staff, CareOregon
- Lindsey Scholten, Executive Director, Oregon League of Conservation Voters
- Melissa Unger, Executive Director, SEIU 503
- Prof. Norman Williams, Willamette University College of Law
Oregon
Oregon Ducks Five-Star Receiver Dallas Wilson To Decommit, Flip To Florida Gators?
The Oregon Ducks 2025 recruiting class is losing the commitment of five-star receiver Dallas Wilson, who will reportedly flip to the Florida Gators. Wilson has been committed to Oregon coach Dan Lanning’s Ducks since January of 2023. The five-star prospect is ranked as the nation’s No. 2 wide receiver.
Wilson asked Oregon to be released from his financial affidavit and will sign with Florida upon release, according to a report from On3’s Gators Online.
Wilson spoke with Oregon Ducks on SI in an exclusive interview after he signed during the Early National Signing Period.
“My whole life I was like, if I ever get an offer from Oregon, I’ll commit,” Wilson said on December 6. “One day, I was talking to my Spanish teacher, and I’m like, if I ever get this offer from Oregon, I’ll commit. That same day, Coach [Adrian] Klemm came to talk to me. He was like, ‘Yeah, we’d like to offer you.’ And I was ecstatic. I think that same day, right when he left, I committed and had the whole coaching staff happy about me. It was just an amazing moment.”
“Dan Lanning is the coolest guy on earth” Wilson continued. “I think he’s one of the best head coaches in the nation, if not the best. He definitely knows how to talk to a player. He knows my background, my life, and I appreciate him taking the time to actually learn stuff about me because a lot of head coaches, they just want you to come to their schools and play for them and not care really, but Oregon’s been real since day one.”
Two weeks later, Wilson is flipping his commitment to Florida. Coach Billy Napier’s Gators and coach Mario Cristobal’s Miami Hurricanes were pushing for Wilson to flip later in the recruiting cycle.
MORE: Updated National Championship Odds: Oregon Ducks, Texas or Ohio State?
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Wilson is a 6-3, 195 pound receiver from Tampa, Florida and the pull to his hometown state made an impact. Wilson made a visit to the Swamp for the Gators’ 27-16 victory over LSU, which helped Florida’s case.
With Wilson flipping, Oregon will have three five-star recruits in it 2025 recruiting class, which ranked No. 2 in the nation before his decommitment. The Ducks five-star recruits are; wide receiver Dakorien Moore from Duncanville, Texas; cornerback Na’eem Offord from Birmingham, Alabama; safety Trey McNutt from Shaker Heights, Ohio.
Rounding out Oregon’s 2025 recruiting class is 15 four-stars players and two three-star players for a total of 21 new Ducks.
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