It may not have been the bowl game that a lot of fans were projecting for their team ahead of the 2022 season, but it will have to do. The Oregon Ducks are officially going to be playing in the Holiday Bowl against the North Carolina Tar Heels.
The Holiday Bowl will be played at Petco Park, the home of the San Diego Padres, on December 28. Kick-off will take place at 5 p.m. PT. The Ducks have played in the Holiday Bowl a total of three times, going 2-1 in those games.
The Ducks will face a tough opponent in the North Carolina Tar Heels, and depending on who ends up playing — Bo Nix, we are looking at you — this could be an incredibly entertaining game. The Tar Heels are led by freshman QB Drake Maye, who was a Heisman Trophy contender throughout the year in North Carolina, throwing for 35 touchdowns and 7 interceptions while also rushing for 7 TD as well.
If Oregon QB Bo Nix decides to play in the bowl game, which is something that is still very much up in the air, then it will deliver a matchup between two former Heisman contenders. Of course, the health of Nix comes into question, but his social media post on Saturday seems to indicate that he plans to play in the bowl game.
While the Holiday Bowl may not sound like a great destination for the Ducks, it actually is a good outcome, when the other option was the Las Vegas Bowl. The Holiday Bowl takes place on December 28, giving Oregon more time to prepare, while the Las Vegas Bowl is on December 17, which comes just days away from the start of the early signing period in recruiting, which is a huge time for Dan Lanning and the Ducks.
Going to the Holiday Bowl allows Oregon to focus on recruiting, and then shift gears to bowl game preparation after the signing day.
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