Which moment was it?

Was it when the ever-elusive Bucky Irving burst free to remedy a stifled Oregon offense?

Or was it when fifth-year senior Steve Stephens IV grabbed a diving interception in his final game as a Duck?

Or was it Bo Nix’s Houdini act to evade pressure and find Terrance Ferguson in the end zone?

Which moment from Monday’s 45-6 dismantling of Liberty reminded Ducks fans that Nix and this Oregon team was special?

“I feel like I’ve definitely played a lot of football,” said Nix, the most experienced quarterback in college football history. “It’s been a great career, a bunch of ups and downs. There’s been some great adversity too that I’ve been able to learn from. I wouldn’t be here without every year. every step has been another journey and I wouldn’t trade anything.” 

Which moment will Ducks fans remember?

Was it the Nix to adopted-brother Tez Johnson end-zone reunion that Oregon fans had been so accustomed to this season?

“Tez had a Tez day,” Nix said. “I can’t explain how awesome it was to play with him for a whole season, and to see him do what he did.”

Or was it Nix’s completion to Irving that made his season completion percentage of 77.24% — the best ever from a collegiate quarterback. 

Probably none of them.

But Ducks fans will remember how Nix and this team made them feel. 

With every deep pass and thundering run, Nix was instrumental in Oregon’s improvement under Oregon head coach Dan Lanning, and has galvanized fans like few have in Eugene. 

“He’s done a lot for this program, and played some really elite ball,” Lanning said of Nix. “I’m really proud of him.”

The hope of contending for perennial national and conference championships that Nix and Lanning have returned to Eugene is real, and so is Lanning’s investment in the program. Oregon’s improvement from 10 to 12 wins is a feat rarely accomplished in college football, Lanning has built for the future as well turning in a second straight consensus top-10 recruiting class. 

“[12 wins] really speaks to the direction, the base these guys have created for where we’re headed,” Lanning said postgame. “They believed in what we wanted to accomplish, this is really all about our players, right, our players had buy-in, they knew what the goal was  and what we wanted to accomplish, and we’re going to build off of that in the future.”

The Duck’s 42-6 demolition of Liberty showcased moments of the past and future yet to come, perhaps the most memorable of all came in the fourth quarter with Nix leaving the game to a rousing curtain-call ovation. With his finger pointed up towards the sky, Nix’s brilliant collegiate career had a beautiful ending. 

“To be able to have that situation, you see it a lot, you always wonder if that could be me,” Nix said. “I feel nothing but joy, nothing but happiness and gratitude for the entire university. I think I could go on and on about what the university has meant to me.” 

With Nix and the majority of Oregon’s starters leaving with the game far out of reach, the Ducks were able to show a flash of their future with multiple freshman and sophomores seeing significant playing time. 

“This game was about unfinished business,” Lanning said. “We said we’re writing the last chapter to our book and we had the pen. And I thought our guys wrote a phenomenal chapter.”

This Oregon team was special but with the Ducks entering the Big Ten, Lanning is determined to make exceptional part of the routine in Eugene. 

“Oregon has submitted itself as a premier program in college football,” Lanning said. “Thankful for some of the great games that have existed in the Pac, but probably just as excited as what’s happening in the future for us.”

Nix’s run at Oregon didn’t contain the national championship dreams he and Lanning had, but a Fiesta Bowl Championship will have to do as the two head their separate ways.

“The great thing about football is that every team has an individual identity within itself,” Lanning said. But the reality is that it has nothing to do with next season…they certainly put the building blocks down for what it means to be an Oregon football player.”

The building blocks will be laid again soon, spring practices begin… not soon enough.