QB MATCHUP PROVIDES MAKINGS OF CLASSIC
Oregon’s Nix vs. UNC’s Maye could be the best in the Holiday Bowl’s 43-year history
Aday before he and his teammates boarded a plane to San Diego for the 2022 SDCCU Holiday Bowl, North Carolina redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Maye was beating back rumors of $5 million NIL deals waiting for him elsewhere.
Maye, the ACC Offensive Player of the Year, declared two weeks ago on social media that he would be returning next season to North Carolina.
That didn’t stop Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi from stirring things up by mentioning that two unnamed schools were trying to tempt the QB into transferring.
“Those rumors weren’t really
reality,” Maye told ESPN on Thursday, saying further that, “Pitt’s coach ended up putting that out there. I don’t know what that was about. You have to enter the transfer portal to talk to these schools and hear these offers.
“For me, I think college football is going to turn into a mess. They’re going to have to do something. There was nothing to me or my family directly offered from any of these other schools. Nothing was said or offered to the Mayes.”
All this made things at Oregon — the team that will oppose the Tar Heels in Wednesday’s Holiday Bowl at Petco Park (5 p.m., Ch. 5/69) — seem tame by comparison.
All Oregon senior quarterback Bo Nix had to do was quell any suggestions he would be leaving early for the 2023 NFL Draft. Nix, who transferred from Auburn before the 2022 season, had a year that had some scouts touting him as a potential high draft pick.
Nix has one more year of college eligibility, and he made it clear that he plans to use it.
“There is nothing like a Saturday
in Autzen Stadium in front of the best fans in college football,” Nix said in a video released by the school. “There’s nothing like playing for my coaches and going to battle with my teammates. There’s nothing like being an Oregon Duck. For 2023, I’m back.”
All the chatter in the three weeks since the matchup was announced between No. 15 Oregon and North Carolina was announced has distracted from what should be the storyline here — that in Maye and Nix the Holiday Bowl may have its best quarterback matchup in the game’s 43- year history.
The Holiday has had some memorable individual quarterback performances:
Jim McMahon (446 yards, 4
TDs) rallied BYU from a 20-point deficit with less than four minutes remaining for a 46-45 win over SMU in the 1980 Holiday Bowl.
The game came to be called the “Miracle Bowl” and ESPN ranks it among the 10 best bowl games ever played.
Ty Detmer (576 yards, 2 TDs passing/2 TDs rushing) set a national bowl record for passing yards in the 1989 Holiday Bowl against SMU.
Detmer, who won the Heisman Trophy the following season, was leading the Cougars downfield for a potential game-winning touchdown in the game’s final minutes when he was stripped of the ball and the Nittany Lions scored to cap a 50-39 win.
Major Applewhite (473 yards, 4 TDs) guided Texas to four fourth-quarter touchdowns — the final one with less than a minute remaining — to outlast Washington 47-43 in the 2001 Holiday Bowl.
Brian Kavanaugh (242 yards, 4 TDs) came off the bench in the second quarter when Kansas State’s starting quarterback was injured and guided the Wildcats — who scored three TDs in nine plays in the second quarter — to a 54-21 win over Colorado State in the 1995 Holiday Bowl.
BYU’s Steve Young threw for a touchdown, ran for a touchdown and caught a touchdown pass in the 1983 Holiday Bowl against Missouri.
Texas A&M’s Bucky Richardson matched the feat in the 1990 Holiday Bowl against BYU, as did Oregon’s Joey Harrington in the 2000 Holiday Bowl against Texas.
Then there was the night that Cal’s Aaron Rodgers (246 yards, 1 TD) was the second-best quarterback on the field, overshadowed by Texas Tech’s Sonny Cumbie (520 yards, 3 TDs) in the Red Raiders’ 45-31 win in the 2004 Holiday Bowl.
The list of outstanding quarterback performances goes on and on, although only once in the Holiday history did both
quarterbacks pass for more than 300 yards in the same game.
That was in the 2014 Holiday Bowl when Nebraska’s Tommy Armstrong Jr. (381 yards, 3 TDs) and USC’s Cody Kessler (321 yards, 3 TDs) dueled it out.
Kessler earned MVP honors as the winning quarterback in the Trojans’ 45-42 victory.
That QB battle didn’t receive nearly the fanfare that this year’s Nix-Maye matchup deserves.
It would be no surprise to see both of these guys throw for more than 300 yards — by halftime.
There’s a reason the Holiday Bowl has the highest over/under
— 731⁄2 points — among all 41 of this year’s bowl games.
The quarterbacks have these teams ranked among the nation’s top teams in total offense, with Oregon fourth (507.8 ypg) and North Carolina 15th (473.6 ypg).
Nix was second in the nation with a 71.5 percent completion percentage (271-for-379) while throwing for 3,388 yards and 27 touchdowns with six interceptions.
Twice this season — against Eastern Washington and BYU — Nix threw five touchdowns passes in a game. A third such performance would set a Holiday Bowl record.
Nix also rushed for 504 yards and 14 TDs, the most among FBS quarterbacks.
As good as those passing and rushing totals are, Maye’s numbers are even more impressive.
Maye has completed 67.2 percent of his passes (324-482) for 4,115 yards and 35 touchdowns with seven interceptions.
He also leads the Tar Heels in rushing with 653 yards and seven TDs.
“We’ve had incredible quarterback performances through the years,” Holiday Bowl CEO Mark Neville said. “But in terms of coming into the game with the expectations of how great these two are, people know who they are, this might be the best quarterback matchup we’ve ever had.
“I don’t know that we’ve had one this big before.”