Dan Lanning doesn’t want former Auburn football QB Bo Nix improvising so much

Former Auburn football QB Bo Nix struggled mightily in his debut as the Oregon starting signal-caller, throwing 16 incompletions and two interceptions in the early going before Stetson Bennett and the Georgia offense rolled the Ducks defense to an insurmountable route.

Nix needs to improve–and almost certainly will barring something drastic and borderline embarrassing–against FCS opponent Eastern Washington of the Big Sky this coming Saturday during college football’s Week 2 slate.

One person whose name is on the line when it comes to Nix moving the needle in Week 2 is Dan Lanning, whose Ducks just fell out of the AP Top 25 following the 49-3 destruction at the Dawgs’ hand this past Saturday.

Lanning had pointed criticisms towards Nix’s picks, the four punts, and Oregon’s turnover on downs from this past Saturday when addressing what the team needs to improve on moving forward:

"“Not turning the ball over. Obviously, that’s a big piece. That’s where it starts. Operate within the framework of the offense.”"

Dan Lanning suggests former Auburn football QB Bo Nix needs to improvise less in the Oregon offense

Perhaps as a habit from having countless pockets collapse throughout his three years behind a shaky Auburn football offensive line, Nix found himself looking to call his own number more often than Dan Lanning would have liked this past Saturday in their shared Oregon debut.

Lanning called Nix out for improvising too much when speaking during a media scrum:

"“You don’t have to create new plays that aren’t there for you to make. You just have to take the ones that are sitting in front of you. When he [Nix] did that, you know, we were effective at times on offense; when you operate outside of the system, it’s going to struggle at times. I think that’d be for anybody.”"

If Nix can’t improve his grasp of the offense against Eastern Washington, perhaps it’ll be Ty Thompson time in Eugene before long.