Oregon football managed to finish their season on a high note Wednesday evening as they came back to beat UNC in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego by a score of 28-27. Quarterback Bo Nix, who connected with Chase Cota for the game-winning touchdown with 19 seconds left in the fourth quarter, spoke out on the Ducks' determination to keep pushing instead of “tanking” like some teams tend to do in bowl games.

Via 247Sports:

“Could have easily kind of tanked at that moment. Bowl games sometimes happen that way. Guys start falling apart and start to not want to play, but that wasn't us tonight. We continued to battle and fight. All it takes is one guy to start doing that. It kind of trickles away. Not a single one of us did that, and it just speaks to the leadership of the team. It starts with Coach Lanning and then goes down to each player. Just saw a bunch of guys out there battling and just competing, and that was the name of the game tonight.”

Oregon's campaign began with a 49-3 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs and ended with a gritty win in a bowl game. For a team like the Ducks who had CFP Playoff aspirations, it couldn't have been easy to settle for the Holiday Bowl. With that being said, Bo Nix and Co. showed guts.

Nix, one of the best signal-callers in the nation, completed 23 of 30 passes for 205 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception, outdueling UNC's Drake Maye, who threw a Hail Mary with seconds remaining but no one came down with the rock.

Oregon football should be in good hands for 2023 as Bo Nix recently announced he'll be returning for another season in his first year in Eugene after previously playing at Auburn. The signal-caller will definitely be in the Heisman conversation.