Oregon's Bo Nix vs. UW's Michael Penix, Jr. Could Be A Heisman Elimination Game In Seattle

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By STEVEN VAUGHAN, 750 THE GAME

When College Gameday comes to your game, I usually means it’s the biggest game of the week. This week is no different as College Gameday is in Seattle for No.8 Oregon vs. No. 7 Washington.

This is the first meeting between the two schools where both are both are ranked in the AP Top 10. There is no question this is one of the biggest game between the two rivals in school history.

Host of the Bald Faced Truth John Canzano echoed that opinion.

“As games go, this is the biggest game I can remember in several years,” Canzano said on 750 The Game. “Even though last year’s was big, this is the biggest Washington/Oregon game with the highest stakes I can remember.”

Jon Wilner of the Mercury News in San Jose joined the Bald Faced Truth to discuss the game. Canzano brought up the idea that the loser of this game could knock out their Heisman candidate, Bo Nix or Michael Penix Jr., from the race for college football’s most prestigious award. Wilner agreed it’s a huge game. But disagreed that the loser of this game is out of the Heisman race.

“I don’t know if it’s going to be an elimination,” Wilner responded. “You just have so many more chances. They’re both going to be going against USC in November vs. Caleb Williams and he’s the Heisman front runner. Let’s just say Nix plays well but Penix is better and Oregon loses by 10 points, that doesn’t mean Nix is out of it. If Nix turns around and plays great in the stretch run and plays great against Caleb Williams then he’s going to be right back in it.”

A big reason Wilner thinks the loser on Saturday can still win the Heisman and still make the Pac-12 Championship is because of all the big games coming up later in the season. Wilner says the end of the Pac-12 season could be one of the most special seasons in conference history.

“The Pac-12 has got 12 conference games in the final half of the season with ranked teams against ranked teams,” said Wilner. “There’s just so much to play out. It’s great that the Oregon/Washington game is in the middle of October and certainly great that both got a week off to get ready and fresh. But I don’t know if we can assign to much significance to it, because they both have such challenging schedules down the stretch run and so much can happen.”

Washington is hosting the Oregon Ducks and Las Vegas has this game being close. Washington is currently a 2.5-pt favorite over the Ducks.

Listen to the full interview with Jon Wilner by clicking the podcast below. Catch the Bald Faced Truth with John Canzano weekdays 3-6 p.m. in Portland exclusively on 750 The Game.