Is something brewing?

 

Late in the game when Oregon was sitting Dillon Gabriel and the sportscasters were introducing Dante Moore, and talking up how the coaches loved what they saw of him in camp, etc...but look who came out to run the offense as the No. 2 quarterback? Austin Novosad!

 

The 6'3" redshirt freshman really impressed me in the Bowl game, and the Spring Game, and I felt he would give Moore a run for the No. 2 slot.

 

What do you make of this? Is it legit? Or were the coaches trying to avoid blowback with playing Moore at UCLA? Do you think it was a wake-up call to Moore that he is not anointed, but must improve and work for it?

 

Or is Novosad better?

 

This could have tons of implications going forward in so many directions. Or is it a head-fake?

 

He handed the ball off for one play and then took a knee. 

 

If we see him again I'd say there might be something brewing behind the closed doors of practice. 

 

But for now I think it could be something as simple as rewarding him for his hard work. 

 

If he threw some passes I think we'd have more of a talking point but he just closed out the game.

 

Other quick thought... When closing out the game it could also be protecting Moore. UCLA was playing pretty rough and dirty. I think they wanted to avoid a Vernon Adams like incident where Adam's former team aggressively went after him in that game. 

 

Might be the same here. Don't give Moore's previous team a shot at taking a shot at him. 

Edited September 29, 2024Sep 29 by David Marsh

My pure guess is that Moore and Novostad are really close like 2A and 2B. Moore got in for a few snaps recently and now it was Novostad's turn.

On 9/29/2024 at 11:31 AM, David Marsh said:

Don't give Moore's previous team a shot at taking a shot at him. 

I did not think of that, and it makes good sense.

 

On 9/29/2024 at 11:43 AM, Santa Rosa Duck said:

My pure guess is that Moore and Novostad are really close like 2A and 2B. Moore got in for a few snaps recently and now it was Novostad's turn.

Plausible, makes sense, but still a surprise. When the sportscasters were prepped and ready to talk about Moore, then they must have been given the impression that Moore was No. 2?

 

Interesting stuff.

 

My thought while watching was that playing Dante Moore would place the focus on him and UCLA rather than the team.

 

No way of knowing, but that’s what went through my mind.

Also - since it was truly garbage time with no meaningful snaps they may be trying to save a possible redshirt year for Dante. This still gives 3 more games he could play in if needed. 

Moore got solid reps against Beavis. If they want to preserve his RS then he has only 3 more games. Why waste one of those for one handoff and a kneel down. They may want to get him in when he can go a couple of series.

Maybe simply a game count thing.    A desire to limit each to no more than four appearances to maintain a year of eligibility.

On 9/29/2024 at 2:45 PM, QuackyQuack said:

Also - since it was truly garbage time with no meaningful snaps they may be trying to save a possible redshirt year for Dante. This still gives 3 more games he could play in if needed. 

 

This was my thought as well.  

 

Why potentially burn a redshift to hand the ball off or kneel? If we are going to play Dante Moore, give him the opportunity to run the offense and throw the football.

On 9/29/2024 at 11:31 AM, David Marsh said:

He handed the ball off for one play and then took a knee. 

 

If we see him again I'd say there might be something brewing behind the closed doors of practice. 

 

But for now I think it could be something as simple as rewarding him for his hard work. 

 

If he threw some passes I think we'd have more of a talking point but he just closed out the game.

 

Other quick thought... When closing out the game it could also be protecting Moore. UCLA was playing pretty rough and dirty. I think they wanted to avoid a Vernon Adams like incident where Adam's former team aggressively went after him in that game. 

 

Might be the same here. Don't give Moore's previous team a shot at taking a shot at him. 

+1 this was the most reasonable conclusion I came to as well.

When I saw it, I thought it made sense. If DG goes down, Novosad is the backup to Dante. Give him the experience of receiving a couple of hikes, a hand off and a knee in front of a live audience. If he is #3, he will not get any meaningful snaps in a real game unless Dillon and Dante both go down. Give him at least a LITTLE experience with the TV cameras on.