Tag: Holiday Bowl

Social Media Buzz: Ducks win thrilling Holiday Bowl with 28-27 comeback over North Carolina

The Ducks came back from down 10 in the 4th quarter and got a game-winning TD with 19 seconds left to win the Holiday Bowl. Of course the fans went crazy online.

For a majority of the game, it was a frustrating affair for Oregon Duck fans, who saw a struggling defense try to stop Drake Maye and an offense that looked uncharacteristically sluggish.

That is until it all changed in the fourth quarter.

Trailing by 10 with under 10 minutes to play, Bo Nix led a TD drive that cut the lead to 3. After the defense got a massive stop and forced a field goal from North Carolina, it gave Bo Nix a chance to drive the length of the field with just over 2 minutes remaining. The Oregon offense did just that, and a touchdown to Chase Cota tied the game with less than 30 seconds remaining.

If that wasn’t entertaining enough, the extra point from Camden Lewis hit the upright and bounced through, giving the Ducks the lead. Oregon’s defense held, and the Ducks won the Holiday Bowl over North Carolina, 28-27.

As you would imagine, Oregon fans went through quite the roller coaster of emotions online. Here are some of the best Twitter reactions from the night.

Oregon vs. North Carolina, live stream, TV channel, time, how to watch the Holiday Bowl

The Oregon Ducks will face off against the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Holiday Bowl on Wednesday night from SDCCU Stadium in San Diego.

The Oregon Ducks will face off against the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Holiday Bowl on Wednesday night from SDCCU Stadium in San Diego.

Oregon will look to rebound after a 38-34 loss to Oregon State in their last regular season game as they look to finish with a 10-3 record with a win. Meanwhile, North Carolina finished at 9-4 and is coming off a 39-10 loss to Clemson in their last game.

This will be a great game on Wednesday night, here is everything you need to know to watch and stream the action.

#15 Oregon vs. North Carolina

  • When: Wednesday, December 28
  • Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: FOX (4K)
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)

 NCAA Football Odds and Betting Lines

NCAA odds courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook. Odds were updated at 5:40 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

Oregon vs. North Carolina (-13.5)

O/U: 75.5

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Mack Brown heaps praise on Dan Lanning’s job as a first year head coach

North Carolina head coach Mack Brown heaped praise on Oregon’s Dan Lanning for the job he did in his first year in Eugene.

The Oregon Ducks are in sunny San Diego to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels in the first Holiday Bowl since back in 2019 when Iowa hung 49 on USC in a resounding victory.

In fact, the Pac-12 hasn’t won a Holiday Bowl since 2014, giving coach Dan Lanning a chance to get the conference back on track against a very solid UNC squad.

It would be a feather in the cap of a very successful first year for Lanning. In fact, Tar Heels coach Mack Brown spoke to reporters on Monday and commended the job Lanning has done at Oregon in his first season.

“We’re excited to play Oregon,” Brown said. “Dan has done an amazing job. First-year coaches, it’s really hard. He didn’t recruit most of those guys. He goes out in his first game and has a tough game with Georgia and then pulls them all back together and regroups. And that could have been a turning point for him in a bad way because he didn’t know a lot of those kids, and he has done an amazing job of pulling it together and keeping it together and putting himself in a position to have a great team.”

Lanning’s team was in the thick of the CFP hunt for most of the season, thanks to a resurgent season from Bo Nix and a dominant performance from transfer running backs Bucky Irving and Noah Whittington – in part due to an experienced and talented offensive line.

UNC had a great season as well, with quarterback Drake Maye having an outstanding season that had him, along with Nix, in Heisman consideration throughout the year.

“They’re a team that is mentioned in the College Football Playoffs every year, and there’s two of the best quarterbacks in college football that are both coming back next year,” Brown continued. “I think both of them have accounted for 42 touchdowns this year. So should be a great game. Should be a lot of fun. I really admire, as I said, what Dan has been able to do with his team.”

Kickoff is slated for 5:00 PM PT on Wednesday, December 28.

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3 keys to victory for Oregon Ducks against North Carolina Tar Heels

Oregon will have their hands full with Drake Maye and North Carolina in the Holiday Bowl. Here are three keys to a Ducks victory.

The Oregon Ducks and North Carolina Tar Heels will meet in sunny San Diego for the Holiday Bowl on Wednesday afternoon, and while each team is dealing with significant attrition – the battle between quarterbacks Drake Maye and Bo Nix could make this an all-time classic.

It might be a ‘first to 50’ situation as both teams are dealing with losses primarily on the defensive end, setting up a fast-paced, exciting game of football.

Of course, in today’s transfer portal era it is always tough to really evaluate performances in these games – and many coaches opt to use these contests as a way to play some younger guys who are in line for bigger roles in the upcoming season.

We will see if the ultra competitive Dan Lanning makes that choice or not, but if they are playing to win we have three keys to a potential Oregon victory lined up:

Attack Through the Air

Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Bo Nix is reportedly healthy and is expected, at least according to coach Dan Lanning, to play some of his best football of the season on Wednesday.

That’s of course excellent news for the Ducks and very bad news for North Carolina, who is going to be without at least three starters in the secondary in Tony Grimes, Storm Duck, and Cam’Ron Kelly.

For Oregon to win, Nix (and potentially Ty Thompson) will want to attack in the air and make North Carolina’s backup defensive backs prove their mettle in this one.

Kenny Dillingham and his explosive plays aren’t calling the shots anymore, but with Junior Adams and Drew Mehringer taking over it could be a pass-heavy game, and a fun one at that.

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Pac-12 has the table set for a bowl game feast — will it eat?

We talked to @MarkRogersTV at the @VoiceOfCFB about the #Pac12’s favorable bowl matchups. Can the conference take full advantage this coming week?

The Pac-12 might not take advantage of its bowl matchups. We will have to wait and see. Yet, on paper, the matchups certainly look good for the conference, which has split its first two bowl games this postseason.

Oregon State won the Vegas Bowl. Washington State lost the L.A. Bowl. Now we move to the five remaining bowls for the Pac-12. They’re all favorable for the conference.

Oregon should roll up the points against North Carolina in the Holiday Bowl.

UCLA faces an undermanned Pitt team in the Sun Bowl.

Washington gets to play Texas in the Alamo Bowl with Texas running back Bijan Robinson out of the Longhorns’ lineup.

USC faces Tulane in the Cotton Bowl.

Utah goes up against Penn State and its average quarterback, Sean Clifford, in the Rose Bowl.

The Pac-12 should definitely go 4-1 in those games, if not 5-0 … at least if the conference is as good as we think it is.

We had more to say with Mark Rogers at The Voice of College Football.

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LOOK: Social media video hints at Ducks uniform combination for Holiday Bowl

Oregon hasn’t released the uniform combo for the Holiday Bowl yet, but a video on Instagram gave fans a sneak preview.

One of the biggest things that takes place during the football season in the world of Oregon Duck fans is the uniform release. It comes out at 5 p.m. PT on the dot, each and every Wednesday before the game. I set my watch to it and make sure to always be ready for the release.

So it became peculiar that on the eve of the Holiday Bowl, the Ducks were yet to release what jerseys they would be wearing against the North Carolina Tar Heels. No tweet, no color scheme, no hints at all.

That is until Tuesday night.

A social media post from freshman cornerback Jahlil Florence might have tipped the team’s hand. According to Florence’s Instagram story, it appears that the Ducks will be glad in white, with white helmets and cleats to go along with it.

As the away team, it comes as no surprise that Oregon will be wearing white, going up against the powder blue of North Carolina. There were some thoughts that the Ducks may pull out the apple green, which would make for one heck of a uniform battle.

Still, this color combo will be very pleasing on the eye as well.

We don’t have a full look at the jerseys, but from what we’ve seen so far, it looks like a similar uniform combo to the one worn in Week 4 vs. the Washington State Cougars. Here’s a quick look at those jerseys:

Oregon OL Steven Jones will return to the Ducks for a sixth season

Offensive lineman Steven Jones announced he will return to Oregon for his sixth season in 2023, offering a major boost to Bo Nix and the Ducks.

Much of Oregon’s experienced offensive line from 2022 will not return next season, but they were missing one key cog for most of the season.

That piece was Steven Jones, who returned to duty late in the regular season and it looks as if the 6-foot-5, 340-pounder from Temecula, Calif. will be a Duck for the 2023 season.

Jones redshirted his sophomore season and thanks to the pandemic, he was granted another year of eligibility. As a junior this season, Jones sustained a foot ailment early in the 2022 campaign and was unable to return until the Utah game Nov. 19.

Oregon will need both his size and experience next season as the Ducks will lose the likes of Alex Forsyth, Ryan Walk and others.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CmsVTLhpxmw/

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12 Oregon players who could be poised for a breakout in the Holiday Bowl

Every year, we see a handful of young guys show their true potential in the bowl games. Who are those players going to be for the Ducks on Wednesday?

There are a lot of college football fans who have grown frustrated with the way that the bowl game landscape has changed over the past few years, where it becomes the norm for veteran players to often opt out of the game with eyes on the NFL draft, and teams often dealing with depleted rosters because of the transfer portal.

While those complaints are valid, bowl games are still incredibly fun to watch for a lot of fans because it gives an opportunity to see some players you may not be used to. While the regular season doesn’t usually see underclassmen and freshmen get on the field, there’s a chance that we could see a lot more of that this week for the Oregon Ducks.

“Certainly, there’s gonna be a lot of young guys out there for us for both teams,” coach Dan Lanning said on Tuesday. “there can be negative connotations with who’s in and who’s out of these games, but I’d rather see the end of the positive side. That’s the side of some young guys are gonna get opportunities that all year have been sitting there waiting for their chance. You hope that they’ve done everything they can to prepare themselves for that moment.”

When Lanning and his squad go up against the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Holiday Bowl on Wednesday afternoon, both sides will be without a number of key players. The Ducks have had guys like CB Christian Gonzalez, LB Noah Sewell, and DE DJ Johnson declare for the NFL Draft, while others like WR Dont’e Thornton and TE Moliki Matavao have transferred to new schools or are in the portal.

That leaves a lot of spots to fill on the field, and we can assume that the players lower down on the depth chart will likely get a chance to prove themselves. In essence, this game against the Tar Heels is sort of like a spring game in a sense, giving Oregon fans a chance to see who some of the next best players will be. Last year in the Alamo Bowl vs. Oklahoma, we saw Troy Franklin have a major impact, acting as a launching pad.

Here’s who I think could end up having a breakout game against North Carolina:

Dan Lanning expects Bo Nix to play ‘some of his best football’ on Wednesday

Oregon Ducks coach Dan Lanning believes quarterback Bo Nix will play some of his best football in the Holiday Bowl on Wednesday.

The big story heading into Wednesday’s Holiday Bowl matchup between the Oregon Ducks and North Carolina Tar Heels is the health of star quarterback Bo Nix.

Nix suffered an ankle injury against the Washington Huskies back in mid-November, and the injury ultimately hampered him significantly in Oregon’s narrow win over Utah and gut-wrenching loss in Eugene against Oregon State to close out the regular season.

Nix had almost exactly a month to physically prepare for this game, and he’s locked in after making the announcement to return to the Ducks for the 2023 season.

Coach Dan Lanning spoke to reporters on Tuesday and offered a very optimistic look at Nix’s status going into tomorrow’s game:

“I certainly think he feels a lot better than he did at the end of the season,” Lanning said. “I expect him to play some of his best football.”

Nix was a revelation for the Ducks this year, throwing for 3,388 yards and 27 touchdowns, along with just six interceptions.

His 71.5% completion rate was tops in the Pac-12 and second in the entire NCAA, and he helped keep the Ducks in contention for a spot in the CFP before a few brutal games down the stretch sent the Ducks to San Diego for the Holiday Bowl.

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Pac-12 Bowl Report: Confident Oregon faces North Carolina in Holiday Bowl

.@Ducks_Wire and @TarHeelsWire face off in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. It’s the first Holiday Bowl since 2019. The last two were canceled. Let there be points!

The Pac-12 is 1-1 in bowl games after the first week. Washington State got pummeled against Fresno State in the LA Bowl, and Oregon State blew out Florida in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Next up for the Pac-12 is the Holiday Bowl, as the Oregon Ducks face the North Carolina Tar Heels in San Diego.

Oregon fell just short of the Pac-12 title game, losing to the Oregon State Beavers in the Civil War game. Now they have a chance to get to 10 wins in Dan Lanning’s first season in Eugene. They have to beat North Carolina.

This will be the first-ever meeting between these two teams, and both sides live on the arms of their quarterbacks.

Tar Heel gunslinger Drake Maye finished the year with 4,115 yards and 35 scores while adding another 653 yards and seven scores on the ground; he was UNC’s leading rusher. Wide receiver Josh Downs is a threat and a first-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft.

The Ducks have Bo Nix, who excelled in his first season in Oregon after transferring from Auburn. However, Nix’s health is a question mark after he got hurt in the Oregon State game.

Ducks Wire and Tar Heels Wire have done an extensive breakdown of this game. Both teams can score big. Oregon is 13th in the nation with 39.7 PPG while North Carolina is 43rd with 35 PPG. Both teams are top 25 in yards per game and in the top 30 in passing yards, so this could be an offensive explosion at Petco Park.

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