On January 1st, No.8 Oregon (11-2) and No. 23 Liberty (13-0) will meet in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The matchup will feature two of the top quarterbacks in the country in Bo Nix and Kaidon Salter.
Nix was a Heisman Trophy finalists after his 2023 season that fell just short of reaching the College Football Playoff. Nix and the Ducks fell to Washington by three points twice on the season, their only losses of the year. Nix threw for 4,145 yards, rushed for 228 yards, tossed 40 touchdowns and ran for six more. Nix, the former starter at Auburn before transferring to Oregon, threw for more than 400 yards in back-to-back games in November and tossed 10 combined touchdowns in wins over USC and Arizona State.
“What makes him so good is, one, his accuracy,” said Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell. “Two, if something breaks down he can beat you running but he keeps his eyes downfield and can still hurt you from the pocket or out of the pocket. You’re not going to stop him, can we hopefully minimize some of the damage that he does, that’s what we’ve got to try to figure out how to do that.”
2023 was Salter’s first year as a full-time starter in college, and he proved that he belonged on the big stage. He may not get the same level of national attention as Nix, but his statistics and play on the field is just about on par with the Oregon signal caller. Salter enters the Fiesta Bowl with 3,814 total yards and 43 touchdowns responsible for. He helped lead Liberty to the program’s first ever 13-win season and Conference USA Championship as the Flames prepare for the team’s first ever January bowl game.
“You knew Kaidon had talent, he transferred here from Tennessee,” said Chadwell. “He had high level talent from a physical gift stand point. Our job was we had to get him to learn and to fall in love with playing quarterback. From spring ball, we got done close to the end of April, from May through August, when he won the job, he made a 180 as far as his preparation and his mindset to really want to be the quarterback and be a leader of men. He always had belief in himself, but a lot of that belief was within those tools and not necessarily in that preparation. Now, his tools and preparation match and that’s why you’ve seen him have an unbelievable season. He’s over 1,000 yards rushing and 2,800 yards passing, and he didn’t play a lot of the fourth quarters in some of the games. Just a tremendous season.”
A quick perusal of the NCAA stat leaders this season and the names Bo Nix and Kaidon Salter are littered throughout.
Nix is first in the country in completion percentage (77.2%) and second in passing yards. Salter leads the country with 16.98 passing yards per completion. The two rank second and third in points responsible for (Nix with 280, Salter with 258). They are also second and third in passing efficiency while only trailing Heisman winner Jayden Daniels (Nix at 186.25, Salter at 182.44). Nix is tied for second in passing touchdowns and Salter is tied for fifth. Nix ranks 3rd in the country in total offense while Salter is 14th.
Nix is expected to be a first or second draft pick in this coming year’s NFL Draft while Salter is likely to be high on NFL draft boards for next year’s draft.
On New Year’s Day, these two will face off on the grass of State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, hoping to guide their respective team to victory on national television.
