Oregon Football: Is it time for a QB change after Stanford loss?

We are officially five games into the Anthony Brown era of Oregon football and it’s fair to say that the senior grad transfer quarterback has earned mixed reviews.

Brown is 4-1 on the year as the starting quarterback with 950 yards, six touchdowns, and an interception. He’s completing just over 56 percent of his passes and he’s also rushed for 198 yards and four touchdowns. He hasn’t been the only issue on offense, but it feels like he may be holding the Ducks back a little with his accuracy issues and inability to win games with his arm.

He’s not going to beat teams with his arm but he is capable of throwing for 200-plus yards with a couple of touchdowns but he is usually hovering around the 50 percent completion rate in the process.

In Week 5, Brown’s lack of a huge arm led to a sluggish offensive effort in the first half against Stanford and then an overtime loss. It was Oregon’s first loss of the year, but it had many wondering if he’s truly the right option at starting quarterback.

Although he didn’t make a ton of mistakes, he also didn’t throw a touchdown pass and completed 14-of-26 passes for under 200 yards and a pick.

After the Ohio State win, I had to eat some crow and admit I was wrong about him being the wrong guy for the starting job, but I feel like it might be time to revisit the topic.

Is Brown the right QB1 for Oregon football?

It may seem a little harsh to question the starting quarterback after just one loss after he helped lead Oregon to the No. 3 ranking in the country, but the offense has too many weapons to be this average.

Oregon should be downright explosive with guys like CJ Verdell, Travis Dye, Johnny Johnson III, Mycah Pittman, Terrance Ferguson, Jaylon Redd, Troy Franklin, and a handful of other weapons, but the sad reality is that the Ducks are not.

The Ducks are ranked 81st in passing yards and 56th in scoring offense through five games and Brown just hasn’t been great.

In fact, let’s look at his numbers through five games compared to the first five games from Tyler Shough last year who was basically run out of town after losing his job to Brown.

• Brown: 950 passing yards, 6 passing touchdowns, 1 interception, 56 percent completion rate; 198 rushing yards, 4 rushing touchdowns
• Shough: 1,389 passing yards, 11 passing touchdowns, 4 interceptions, 64 percent completion rate; 256 rushing yards, 2 rushing touchdowns

Yes, those numbers are real. Honestly, which one would you take? If you find yourself preferring the Shough passing attack, it’s time to make a change.

Mario Cristobal has a tough decision to make, but it seems like a change may be necessary.