Oregon Football: 3 implications of tight home win over Cal

2. The jury’s still out on Anthony Brown

I came into this game hoping for some clarity one way or another at the quarterback position and I leave just as confused as I was pre-kickoff.

Anthony Brown has been under the microscope over the past two weeks since the Stanford loss. He has drawn plenty of criticism — warranted and unwarranted — and many people, including myself, believed that Mario Cristobal should have given Ty Thompson a shot to prove himself. But he said last week that Brown is his guy and gives the Ducks the best chance to win.

I couldn’t help but make a “really?” face when hearing him say that, but honestly we shouldn’t have expected any different. Now isn’t the time to crush Brown’s confidence. The Ducks need him to continue to improve down the stretch.

But the sixth-year quarterback just didn’t look overly impressive against Cal. He did complete 20-of-28 passes for 244 yards and a touchdown, but he was making a lot of safe throws and his down-and-distance awareness just didn’t seem to be there on some passing plays. He also had a self-inflicted fumble near the end of the first half that costed Oregon points.

Brown ran in the game-winning touchdown with under five minutes left, but the offense continues to look somewhat ineffective with him running the show.

The jury’s still out on Brown.