EVANSTON, Illi. — Bryce Boettcher has celebrated numerous Jerry Mixon interceptions in practice, and now the other half of the "sticks and picks" duo is excited to share the love on gamedays.
Mixon's practice exploits are the thing of legend, it would seem. Boettcher has "never seen someone with more interceptions in practice" than Mixon, who has had two over the past two Saturdays to earn acclaim.
"It's cool to see what he does in practice show up," Boettcher said after Saturday's 34-14 win over Northwestern. "I'm looking forward to see what he does next week."
The junior forced his first career takeaway in the third quarter of the Oklahoma State romp, when he leapt in front of a pass and raced untouched into the end zone for six. He pulled a similar stunt on Saturday, when he charged in front of a Preston Stone underneath pass and ran 36 yards to set up Jordon Davison's fifth touchdown of the season.
Mixon is a bit of an illusionist, Oregon coach Dan Lanning says. His impressive burst allows him to recover faster than the quarterback expects, lulling them into a false sense of security.
"Jerry gets a bunch of those in practice and it's because he makes you think he can't make the play," Lanning explained. "And then he does an unbelievable job breaking on the ball.
"Whether that's Bryce or Jerry, those guys have proven to be ball production guys, and that's definitely what we're looking for."
According to Mixon, Lanning has termed the pair "sticks and picks". Boettcher for his hard hits and Mixon for his ability to intercept passes.
"He's a hard-hitter and I like to get picks. We mesh together well," Mixon said. "He's got a lot of instincts as well. Just playing with our instincts, executing the call and then will handle itself."
Saturday's play was all about instincts, he says, and his bloodlines don't hurt either.
"We had a play call and I played inside the running back. I read the quarterback's eyes and jumped the route and I tried to get another pick six," he explained.
"Just being a Mixon. The last name, I think that plays a part of it, our instincts. It's just doing that every day in practice, gives me confidence in the game to go out there and do the same stuff."
His cousin Joe Mixon is a running back for the Houston Texans, who has run for 7,428 yards over eight seasons in the NFL.
Boettcher also forced his first turnover of the season, intercepting a deflected pass in the first quarter to help set up the first points of the game. It was his second career interception. His first came against UCLA.
He narrowly missed two other interception attempts, including one several plays before the takeaway.
"First one I was just keying the quarterback and that took me right to where he was throwing the ball. I was a little out of reach, probably should've dove like a centerfielder on that one," he explained. "But I made up for it a couple of plays later."
The Ducks will be back in action this coming weekend when they host the rival in-state Beavers. That game will kick off at 12 PM and will air on Big Ten Networks.