Nix, Maye could give new-look Holiday Bowl a retro feel

The No. 15 Oregon Ducks will perform North Carolina on Wednesday night time at Petco Park, the downtown house of baseball’s San Diego Padres. It’ll be the first football game at the ballpark and the first Vacation Bowl due to the fact 2019.

When the placing will be new, the matchup amongst prolific quarterbacks Bo Nix of Oregon and Drake Maye of North Carolina could deliver a common superior-scoring Vacation Bowl.

Both of those quarterbacks will be hunting for a solid finish to springboard them in 2023 following their groups slumped at the close of the regular time. Oregon missing two of its past three, which includes to rival Oregon State, and North Carolina comes in on a 3-match dropping streak, including a 29-level decline to Clemson in the Atlantic Coast Meeting title sport.

Nix experienced been a Heisman contender ahead of an ankle injuries in a decline to Washington knocked him off the pace. He announced past week in a online video that he’ll return for his fifth calendar year of eligibility: “There’s very little like remaining an Oregon Duck. For 2023, I’m back.”

The Ducks are favored by 14½ factors and the more than/underneath is 74½ factors, in accordance to FanDuel Sportsbook.

“I feel it’s unbelievable,” North Carolina coach Mack Brown said of the potential for an offensive clearly show. “Both defenses are hearing how excellent the offenses are likely to be so they’re both equally mad. Coming into the match they imagine nobody’s offering them a possibility so that suggests individuals defenses will combat challenging.”

Each teams experienced to substitute their offensive coordinators right after the common season. Brown said participate in-calling falls to Lonnie Galloway, the assistant head coach/passing sport coordinator, “who has hardly ever known as a engage in in a ballgame, so it will be attention-grabbing.”

Brown is coaching in the Vacation Bowl for the sixth time. He brought Texas right here five situations among 2000 and 2011, heading 3-2. His Longhorns missing to the Ducks in 2000.

A matchup among Nix and Maye is perfect for a bowl match with a standing for substantial-scoring game titles relationship to the early 1980s with BYU’s Jim McMahon and Steve Youthful. Nix concluded 71.5{f5ac61d6de3ce41dbc84aacfdb352f5c66627c6ee4a1c88b0642321258bd5462} of his passes for 3,388 yards and 27 touchdowns, with six interceptions. He also ran for 540 yards and 14 extra touchdowns. Maye, the ACC Offensive Participant of the Calendar year, threw for 4,115 yards and 35 TDs, with 7 interceptions.

Carolina’s major receiver, Josh Downs, has opted out to prepare for the NFL draft, as has Oregon outdoors linebacker D.J. Johnson, who had 6 of the Ducks’ 16 sacks. The Tar Heels have misplaced several defensive backs to the transfer portal.

Get ME OUT TO THE BALLPARK

The Holiday break Bowl moved downtown immediately after its property of 42 a long time, Qualcomm Stadium, was demolished to make room for a new stadium and campus growth for San Diego Condition. Petco Park, which opened in 2004, has hosted a basketball activity concerning San Diego Point out and the College of San Diego, a Davis Cup tennis match on a clay court amongst Britain and the United States, as effectively as soccer, rugby, and many motorsports activities. The Padres also host the Hyperlinks at Petco Park each individual January, with golfers having photographs onto the taking part in field from 9 tees positioned close to the ballpark.

This will be the initially Holiday break Bowl considering that Iowa routed USC in 2019. The 2020 Holiday break Bowl was canceled owing to the pandemic and very last year’s activity scheduled for Petco Park was not played immediately after UCLA pulled out about 5 hrs right before kickoff in opposition to North Carolina Condition, citing a COVID-19 outbreak.

Brown mused about being routed by Marcus Mariota and the Ducks in the 2013 Alamo Bowl, his last game with Texas. When the Tar Heels and Ducks visited the aircraft provider USS Abraham Lincoln on Monday, Brown toured the ship with Nix and Ducks coach Dan Lanning.

“Bo was heading up the methods in entrance of me, and I commenced to grab his ankle,” Brown stated with a chuckle, “but there ended up way too many cameras. I didn’t want to damage him lousy. It’s just 1 activity. But I have been there. God seemed at me and stated, ‘No, really don’t do that.’”