Oregon names Anthony Brown starting quarterback
Oregon has named Anthony Brown its starting quarterback, head coach Mario Cristobal said Friday.
A redshirt senior from Cliffwood, New Jersey, Brown beat out freshmen Robby Ashford, Jay Butterfield and Ty Thompson for the starting job.
“Anthony Brown will be the starter for us,” Cristobal said. “The No. 2 quarterback position is still up for grabs and those guys will continue to compete.”
Cristobal said there was an extensive list of factors that went into the decision to name Brown the starter.
“The way he handles and has command of the offense, his presence amongst the players at the line of scrimmage, his ability to improvise — sometimes negotiate throws in tough situations, his ability to run the ball, he’s been really accurate and his explosive play ratio has been really high against a defense that we feel is really good,” Cristobal said. “… Anthony has done a great job. Quite frankly, he’s the starter because he’s done a great job.
Brown transferred to Oregon in spring of 2020 and served as backup to Tyler Shough last fall.
In a limited role with the Ducks last season, Brown went 15-of-23 passing for 164 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 40 yards and a pair of scores on seven carries. He made his Oregon debut in the Pac-12 Championship Game and completed 3-of-4 passes for 17 yards and pair of touchdowns.
In the Fiesta Bowl against Iowa State, Brown did not start but came on to replace Shough in the first half and finished 12-of-19 passing for 147 yards and ran for a pair of touchdowns.
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Prior to arriving at Oregon, Brown started three seasons at Boston College, but spent significant time sidelined with knee injuries. During his time with the Eagles, he threw for 4,738 yards, 40 touchdowns and 20 interceptions and ran for 423 yards and four touchdowns.
In regards to the battle for the backup quarterback spot, Cristobal said “it’s tight.” He said it isn’t a case of Brown performing well and the other three performing poorly; rather, he said all four quarterbacks have performed well and developed under offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead.
“They do things well,” Cristobal said. “They’re progressing. It feels like one day, one is ahead of the others.
“You know, you’re running out of reps. It becomes a real tight situation — not only from the standpoint that the game is coming, but fromm the reps available to let it play itself out. So we’ve got to make a decision and we’ve got to be able to handle it as a team.”
