Guess we could call this game the QB Bowl or the Meltdown Bowl.

There are several themes of the Holiday Bowl Wednesday night at 8 when the unranked Tar Heels take on No. 15 Oregon in a game where you could play whoever has the ball last will win.

The Ducks have quarterback Bo Nix, the transfer from Auburn who is eighth nationally in total offense with 324 yards per game, 16th in passing with 3,400 yards and 27 touchdown passes and six interceptions. Drake Maye is second in NCAA total offense with 367 yards per game, third in passing with more than 4,000 yards and 35 TD passes and 7 picks.

If it matters, Oregon is 75th in total defense with 386 yards allowed per game. UNC is 116th with 438 yards allowed. The Ducks are 14th in rushing and the Heels are 62nd. That all evens out between running and passing.

What may be more important is the frame of mind each team carries into the game, both with rough finishes to the regular season. Oregon was 8-1 after nine games but lost two of their last three including a blown 31-10 lead against archrival Oregon State in their last game to wind up 9-3.

That sounds sort of similar to Carolina blowing a 9-point lead at NC State in a New York minute to finish the 2021 regular season 6-6 and then mailed it in for the Duke’s Mayo Bowl and a bad loss to South Carolina.

Maybe Oregon will come in with that kind of hangover, but you have to doubt it playing for a 10-win season. So is UNC, which was 9-1 a month ago before losing to Georgia Tech and State at home on the last possession and getting blown out by Clemson late in the ACC Championship game.

So playing for that elite 10th win of the season is probably a big deal for both teams, if they can shake their second halves in their most recent games.

The coaches are on opposite sides of the age and experience spectrum. The Ducks had Mario Cristobal before he left for his ACC alma mater Miami. Dan Lanning is 36 and in his first season as a head coach after a career as mostly a defensive assistant.

Mack Brown is almost twice Lanning’s age and is the active college coach with the most wins, including a national championship at Texas. But he has lost his offensive coordinator and it may be Maye-Day calling most of the plays.

Both coaches are in the middle of the revolving door transfer portal while their teams get ready for the bowl game with a few missing parts.

UNC is without All-ACC slotback Josh Downs, the Ducks won’t have All- Pac 12 linebacker Christian Gonzales. Both are preparing for the NFL draft.

 

Featured image via Associated Press/Jacob Kupferman

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