The 50-yard bomb from Bo Nix to Troy Franklin will likely lead the highlight packages from No. 25 Oregon’s 41-20 beatdown of No. 12 BYU. But it was a pair of plays earlier in the drive that made the deep ball possible, and that embodied the key to Oregon’s offensive explosion.

On a second down and six, Nix dropped back to pass and looked to his right. The Auburn transfer has become known for his erratic play — the phrase “Bo Nix experience” to describe his yo-yoing from, say, eluding a sack and delivering a perfect pass downfield, only to toss a bone-headed interception on the next snap has become common in the college football lexicon. This time, however, instead of forcing the ball into tight coverage, Nix pump-faked, tucked the ball and scrambled for six yards. He moved the chains with a one-yard rush on the following play.

A few plays later, facing another third down and one, Oregon unveiled a super-jumbo personnel package with six offensive linemen and three tight ends, one of whom lined up at fullback. The beefy band of blockers paved the way for Jordan James to gain three yards and move the chains again. The next snap, Nix faked a handoff and threw his first pass of the drive, the rainbow to Franklin.

Before he was asked a question at his postgame press conference, first-year Oregon coach Dan Lanning excitedly brought up not the deep ball, Nix’s first completion of the season that traveled more than 20 yards in the air, but his team’s ability to put extra blockers on the field and impose its will on the BYU defensive front.

“Everybody at the stadium at some point probably realized what we were doing when we ran Josh Conerly out there, our big group out there, with three tight ends and a back, when we were about to get big and go play ball,” Lanning said. “And we didn’t really care if you knew what we were going to do. You had to stop us. And I thought our offense did a great job of that.”