Oregon quarterback Bo Nix has improved so much in this new offense. He’s focused. He’s having fun. He’s saying the Oregon Ducks would beat Georgia if the two teams were to play again.
The Oregon quarterback gave an interview with Dennis Dodd of CBS, discussing his impressive season at Oregon. The Ducks have not lost since playing Georgia in Week 1 and sit as the No. 8 team in the country.
“Now, if we played them again tomorrow, the game would be completely different, and everybody knows that,” Nix told Dodd.
The first time these two teams met, Georgia came away with a 49-3 win over the Ducks in Atlanta. Nix was intercepted twice and the Ducks had by far their worst offensive output of the season. Since then, Oregon has scored more than 40 points in every game.
Georgia has not yet lost a game this season, entering Saturday’s game against Florida with a 7-0 record. But were Georgia playing Oregon on Saturday, Nix feels confident the Ducks would win.
“I do,” Nix said. “From the first game of the season, a lot of teams get so much better.”
Following the 49-3 win over Oregon, Georgia coach Kirby Smart downplayed the result. Since then, Georgia has backed up that performance multiple times in wins over South Carolina, Auburn and Vanderbilt.
The Oregon game wasn’t just Nix’s first in an Oregon uniform. Dan Lanning was in his first game as a head coach.
Smart likely isn’t surprised about Lanning’s turnaround, based on comments made after the Georgia win.
But those comments illuminate why the Bulldogs would feel very confident in a potential rematch.
“He’s going to do a really good job at Oregon,” Smart said of Lanning. “He’s relentless, and they’ll bounce back from this, and he knows that we’ve got better players. He’ll never say it, but he knows we’ve got better players, and I respect how he works.”
Related: What social media is saying after Georgia football obliterates Oregon in Week 1
Nix is 0-4 in his career against Georgia, with three of those losses coming as the quarterback of the Auburn Tigers. At Oregon, Nix has thrown 17 touchdowns to just three interceptions. Against UCLA, he threw for five touchdowns in a 45-30 win. By comparison, Auburn has just five touchdown passes on the season.
Georgia hasn’t given any thought to Oregon since the opening week, with the Bulldogs instead focused on Florida.
“I haven’t been paying attention to it,” Smart said this week. “I mean, I really haven’t. Our focus has been on the next opponent since Thursday of last week. And not to not answer your question, but I just don’t concern myself with it.”
More Georgia football stories from around DawgNation
- Georgia football podcast: The worst reason to move UGA-Florida from Jacksonville
- Jamon Dumas-Johnson makes it known Georgia football isn’t looking ahead to Tennessee: ‘This rivalry means everything’
- Nolan Smith ready to leave one final mark on Georgia football-Florida rivalry: ‘He’s ride or die’
- Florida star Brenton Cox Jr. primed for Georgia: ‘It’s going to be real’
- Potent Florida run game main ingredient in Gators’ formula to upset No. 1 Georgia
- Ellis Robinson IV: Nation’s No. 1 junior CB prospect keeps bringing up with word ‘Home’ with Georgia football
- Gimme 5: Why Georgia hasn’t, and likely won’t, have a home night game in the 2022 season
- Georgia coach Kirby Smart believes best is ahead entering challenging stretch
- Georgia football podcast: Jamon Dumas-Johnson playing a Michael Jordan role for UGA