Two weeks after tying an NCAA record against Washington, Oregon Ducks QB Bo Nix continued to make NCAA history in Week 9. In just his second season at the helm in Eugene, Nix is now the owner of an illustrious record.
Most Starts By College Quarterback: Bo Nix Sets Record
Starting the Ducks’ game at Utah, Nix now has 55 career starts. Nix had 34 starts in his first three seasons with the Auburn Tigers from 2019 until 2021 before transferring to Oregon to take over at quarterback.
As of October 28, 2023, he has now started 21 games for Oregon, with 13 last season and now eight in 2023.
A week prior, Nix tied former Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore and former Texas quarterback Colt McCoy with 53 starts in their college careers.
This achievement is a testament to the work Nix has done and his ability to be able to stay healthy as much as possible. Every season, he has started and played in at least 10 games.
The only season where he started less than 11 games was in 2021, when he suffered a season-ending injury, missing the last few games of the season.
An advantage Nix had over Moore and McCoy is that he had a fifth year to hit that number, while the other two quarterbacks did it in four seasons. Barring any injuries, Nix should be able potentially get as high as 60 career starts by the end of the season.
That number could increase depending on the Pac-12 conference championship game as well as playoff games or bowl games.
Other Potential Records Nix Could Go After
Reviewing over career records in NCAA history and looking at Nix’s career stats, starting with passing yards, he’s currently at 12,640 yards as of October 11, 2023. This season, he has 1,796 yards in six games, which would have him pacing for 3,592 yards in 2023 if he plays just 12 games. That would be one yard shy of his career-high mark he set last season.
That would put his career yards at 14,637 yards, which would be ranked seventh on the all-time passing yards list behind Moore, but ahead of former Texas Tech and Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Completions are another statistic that Nix can be gunning for a top 10 all-time finish for as he is pacing for 341 completions in 13 games this season, which would shatter his previous career-high of 294.
If added to his other completions from the previous four seasons, he would have 1,263 completions, which would land him around sixth on the all-time list.
Oregon’s success this season should help Nix get into the top five all-time in wins by a quarterback in a career. Moore currently has 50, which is the most in college football history. Nix is three wins away from tying with former Tennessee quarterback Payton Manning for fifth place.
If the Ducks can win the majority of their games or all of them, Nix can sneak in at three ahead of former TCU quarterback Andy Dalton and former Georgia quarterback David Greene, who each have 42.
More than likely, the records on this list Nix is chasing will be tough, if not impossible, to break, but it does show the caliber of a career that he has had as a quarterback. He will leave college as one of the most decorated quarterbacks in NCAA history, and the numbers will not lie.
The numbers will write Nix’s story for him, but one thing he will be chasing before the end of his career is a national title, which is in the cards should Oregon win out.
