Brock has been a fun story, and he’s done what has been asked of him. I’m rooting for him.

That said, I do have concerns if he’s the legit #2 option and OBD ends up needing him to come in and win a game against a top-tier opponent.

I fully believe that he’s moved ahead of Moga. But it’s more difficult for me to believe that he’s truly a better option than Novosad. Is Novosad not as good as we generally think? Or is this really about something else such as a potential medical redshirt or Dan not wanting scouting film on his next starter?

Yes, Brock went 4/4 and led the team admirably yesterday, and in very poor conditions. But if I’m being honest I feel like they have to really back down the offense for Brock, and that circus-catch by Moore really should have been a pick.

I tend to think that if OBD were behind, or playing a more dangerous team, we would see Novosad enter the game. I’m guessing we didn’t see him yesterday because Dan trusted that the defense would hold against an inept Wisconsin offense.

I’d be curious to hear thoughts on this.

I didn’t see it but apparently Novosad was warming up and everyone expected him to go in. Then, BT came onto the field instead.

I think Novosad will enter the portal.

Coach DL was asked the question in a interview as to why Novosad and Moga did not get playing time and Brock did?

DL said that you earn your way onto the field by your effort and performance in practice. And Brock earned the playing time. Says it all right there!

Personally there is no mystery here. Brock beat the other QB's out for playing time. No matter our expectations of any of these QB's, they are not performing well enough to beat out Brock.

The best players who earn it play in the games. 4 RB's are watching 2 freshman getting the snaps.

Let's hope Brock keeps improving each week. He played well in some monsoon conditions. Handled some bad snaps and did not turn the ball over.

Need better than that from the back-ups moving forward to win if starters go down.

Go Ducks......

FWIW, my impression:

Novo was warming up and looked to be entering the game. But then his last warm-up throw was a bit awkward....TV goes to timeout and comes back with Thomas lined up behind center.

1 hour ago, bbmichaels said:

That said, I do have concerns if he’s the legit #2 option and OBD ends up needing him to come in and win a game against a top-tier opponent.

How many teams can expect their backup QB to win a game against a top-tier opponent?

We are not even sure if Oregon’s #1 QB can win a game against a “top-tier opponent.” LOL.

I don’t know if Northwestern or Montana State is Oregon’s best win to date.

Edited 13 hours ago13 hr by OregonDucks

Brock Thomas was a 3* walk on out of Sheldon High School.

Justin Herbert would have been a 3* walk on Sheldon High School if Oregon had not offered him a scholarship at almost the last minute.

I don't think we should think of Brock as "just a walk on". I think we should look at him as a very talented young QB that is on the rise and capable of leading this team.

Edited 13 hours ago13 hr by Jon Sousa

19 minutes ago, OregonDucks said:

How many teams can expect their backup QB to win a game against a top-tier opponent?

Oregon should be one of them with the amount of NIL and nationally ranked recruiting classes.

15 minutes ago, OregonDucks said:

How many teams can expect their backup QB to win a game against a top-tier opponent?

Only championship caliber teams...which is kind of the point.

Preseason the narrative seemed to be that Novosad was pushing Moore and really competing for the QB1 role. If that was truly the case I would expect him to be able to step in and potentially win a big game against a top opponent.

The new narrative is that Brock earned the playing time at practice. So does that mean that Novosad isn't really the QB1-b that we assumed he was? Or is that not the full story and there is more going on? I personally think it's the latter.

Could be injury(as in saving a medical redshirt), attitude in practice, or Brock’s ability, as the reason that his number get’s called.

The coaches send in players that have talent, and a team first attitude. Those are the guys that you want on the field. All others are waiting for their opportunity to contribute.

The team is showing growing pains, and ranked #6 in the country, not bad.

All I expect is for the team to be prepared for the next opponent, and put the players that deserve to be on the field in a position to be successful.

The problem with sports, success is never guaranteed.

35 minutes ago, bbmichaels said:

Only championship caliber teams...which is kind of the point.

I’m sorry but that is no longer the world we live in. With the transfer portal, once a QB gets beat out they are going to transfer.

The best you can hope for is for your backup QB to be serviceable if your starter is injured (which Brock was) and beat some average or below teams.

Edited 12 hours ago12 hr by OregonDucks

Did we ever actually learn what Novosad's injury was?

I have been dealing with rotator cuff issues for years.

That has the potential to be a nagging issue for a throwing arm. If the rehab is not complete, or marginally unsuccessful, it can be a nightmare in throwing situations.

I don't know what the issue is, as I honestly have no idea what the injury was.

1 hour ago, Jon Sousa said:

Brock Thomas was a 3* walk on out of Sheldon High School.

Justin Herbert would have been a 3* walk on Sheldon High School if Oregon had not offered him a scholarship at almost the last minute.

I don't think we should think of Brock as "just a walk on". I think we should look at him as a very talented young QB that is on the rise and capable of leading this team.

This. I recall mentioning on this forum that Brock Thomas probably had the best spring game performance.

Perhaps he is actually better than everyone other than Moore.

It was odd to see Novosad warming up. Maybe he was trying to show the coaches he was ready to go too.

20 minutes ago, Solar said:

It was odd to see Novosad warming up. Maybe he was trying to show the coaches he was ready to go too.

My thought when I saw him warm up but then Brock go into the game was that they were getting him ready but then realized Moore could go back in if needed so Brock would just fill the gap until Moore was ready.

But then Moore never went back in...maybe because we scored again and they decided he didn't need to.

Didn't realize it until I looked at the game log, but Dante went out VERY early in the third period. It was 7-0 when Moore went out.

First mention of Thomas in the game log is a pass play at 12:45 left in third quarter. That means he was in for almost all the third quarter and all the fourth quarter opportunities.

Apparently the coaches had a lot of faith in the guy.

Both Moore and Thomas were in on the final play of 5 possessions each.

2 hours ago, HDuck said:

Apparently the coaches had a lot of faith in the guy.

And I think we should too. If Dante had stayed in the game, would the score have been much different?

There is no way to know.

7 hours ago, OregonDucks said:

We are not even sure if Oregon’s #1 QB can win a game against a “top-tier opponent.” LOL.

Sheldon High School has been very-very good to OBD.

The great Chris Miller in the 80s (13 passing records while at Oregon & NFL Pro Bowler).

And the almost walk-on at Oregon, the great Justin Herbert.

And who knows... maybe the young Brock Thomas.

1 hour ago, Jon Sousa said:

And I think we should too. If Dante had stayed in the game, would the score have been much different?

There is no way to know.

yes, yes it would. It would have been 38-7 and I would have won the prediction contest. LOL

8 hours ago, OregonDucks said:

I don’t know if Northwestern or Montana State is Oregon’s best win to date.

Stone cold, my friend. But only because your comment is true.

Four weeks ago, I thought we likely had a championship caliber team. But now, as someone else around here said, I can't believe we had to go into double OT to beat PSU.

So, if you were to ask me how good I think OBD are, I kind of have no clue. But, my instincts say we might get away with winning the rest of our regular season games.

But if that amazingly happens, when the playoffs get here -- at least at this point, I don't think we've got the stuff this year to win against the OSU's & Indiana's.

And I certainly hope I'm wrong.

59 minutes ago, Desert Duck said:

Sheldon High School has been very-very good to OBD.

The great Chris Miller in the 80s (13 passing records while at Oregon & NFL Pro Bowler).

And the almost walk-on at Oregon, the great Justin Herbert.

And who knows... maybe the young Brock Thomas.

If Brock Thomas replaced Moore in the playoffs, I would turn the TV off. I would prefer Smith Jr face the wolves and risk his confidence before I would give the reigns to Thomas. That clearly means I have no issues with either Moga or Novo. Brock Thomas has done a fine job. The play that should have been intercepted was-in my opinion a late throw. Dakorian Moore was open two seconds earlier. No disrespect to Thomas, but I doubt his arm strength downfield. More than our scholarship QBs.

Thomas may be padding his highlight reel for a portal transfer. Penn State lost Bo Pribula (what an irony, Allar and Pribula get injured back to back weeks) because everyone got to see what he had to offer. He was forced to make that decision because of the Portal rules. Penn State would be in much better shape (definitely would have defeated Iowa) had Pribula been allowed a reasonable decision process. I believe that is in play at present. Novo and Moga can start for several conference foes. No reason to give them impetus to recruit them in my opinion.

If I were Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Purdue Minnesota (who I believe may be losing their good QB), I would be chasing both Novo and Moga right now. Both would be an upgrade for those programs.

Novosad was on the injury list for several weeks as “questionable” before being cleared for Rutgers. I read somewhere it was a lower back issue / strain. If you follow the timeline of the injury report, my guess is that he probably didn’t practice for 3-4 weeks.

It is reasonable to assume that Thomas earned the QB2 job during that time by passing Moga on the depth chart. With likely limited to no practice reps from Novosad, the staff probably felt more comfortable with Thomas the last 2 games.

Is Novosad even eligible for a medical redshirt? He suited up, traveled with the team to Rutgers, and has not been on the injury report for the past 2 games. I was under the impression that if you travel, suit up and are not listed as “injured”, a medical redshirt is probably not a realistic option.

I think the writing is on the wall for Novosad, and Moga to hit the portal. I think Dante comes back next year and Smith jr might be looking better than we think. If all that shakes out the roster still has Moore 5* Smith jr* Thomas 3* and Beavers 4*. Almost identical to the roster this year.