EUGENE, Ore. — Facing third-and-2 from the opposing 26 on Saturday, Anthony Brown took the snap, felt the pocket collapsing to his left, stepped up and saw Travis Dye crossing 5 yards ahead. Just as the Oregon senior was about to be brought down, he flicked the ball out to the junior running back, who planted his foot and took off, not stopping until he dived into the right pylon of the west end zone.
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The touchdown came on Oregon’s first drive of its first spring game in more than two years, an event in which Oregon’s youth movement dazzled with numerous highlight plays and long-awaited debuts. This 26-yard score wasn’t as memorable as others from a scrimmage technically won by the offense 35-34, but it didn’t need to be. Brown made a heady play — a smart play.
Think savvy, not sexy.
This wasn’t Marcus Mariota wowing in his Oregon spring debut nine years ago, or a performance that should jump-start a Heisman campaign. But Brown has played enough football to know that it didn’t need to be. He’s started 28 games in his career. The former Boston College QB played against Clemson and Florida State and Notre Dame. A spring game with no fans in the Autzen Stadium stands isn’t going to show him, or the Ducks, anything they don’t already know.
Brown, entering his second season in Eugene, can play, and this spring was about finding rhythm with an offense that he’s making his own after it struggled to find consistency under now-Texas Tech QB Tyler Shough in 2020’s halved year.
“Today was good,” said Brown, who finished 20-of-29 passing for 230 yards and that first-quarter touchdown. “I wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be, but it happens like that sometimes. I have things to work on, and now it’s just moving on from there and learning from it and fixing the mistakes to keep progressing.”
Of course, nobody watches the spring game just to see a vet tune up. But that matters at Oregon in 2021. Unlike a year ago, Brown has been the No. 1 on the depth chart most of the offseason. He took every snap with the first unit this spring, and little has happened over the past month for the Ducks to budge him off that.
“We think Anthony is the one,” Oregon coach Mario Cristobal said. “But we’re not going to let (the QB competition) die.”
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Brown’s steadiness isn’t a natural talker after a spring game filled with freshmen balling all over the place. True freshmen Troy Franklin and Dont’e Thornton combined for seven catches, 182 yards and a touchdown. Second-year freshman cornerback Dontae Manning had an interception. Five-star left tackle Kingsley Suamataia caught a pass and linebacker Justin Flowe, now fully recovered from the knee injury that derailed his debut season, found himself standing next to Noah Sewell with the first unit and flying all over the field. Flowe, the No. 6 player in the 2020 class, had five tackles, 1.5 tackles for a loss, a sack, a pass defended and looked unblockable at times.
“The recovery process took a long time,” Flowe said. “I just thank God because I feel really good, and this is really good for me right now.”
A lot of these freshmen aren’t just going to play in 2021, they’re going to be big contributors on a roster that already returns the bulk of its starters from 2020’s Pac-12 title-winning season, whether that be on defense, receiver or tight end, where freshman Terrance Ferguson and Moliki Matavao are, literally, huge additions.
And there’s youth at quarterback, too. Ty Thompson, Jay Butterfield and Robby Ashford all had their moments Saturday — especially Butterfield, who worked with the twos and dropped in a perfect 41-yard pass to Franklin on his first attempt. All three have better physical attributes than Brown. Butterfield has a cannon, Thompson has prototypical quarterback size and Ashford’s speed and arm strength combination make him a prospect the football staff isn’t ready to hand over to the baseball team full time. If experience was equal, Brown might not be the one leading the Ducks into Week 1 against Fresno State, and certainly not in Week 2 at Ohio State.
But experience isn’t equal.
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And while the three freshmen were busy getting their feet wet Saturday, Brown made smart reads and embraced the opportunity to be a leader. A year ago at this time, Brown was in Eugene by himself. He had just transferred from Boston College, everything had shut down from the pandemic and Brown was just trying to get reps with anyone he could as he adjusted to a new team in a new city. He played in two games in 2020, spelling Shough in the Pac-12 title game and the Fiesta Bowl loss to Iowa State, and now finally, a year later, feels comfortable.
“I feel like the reps compared to last year, in practice at least, has a huge role in where I’m at in understanding the offense, understanding the plays, the concepts in accordance with the defense and the defensive looks that we get,” Brown said. “Mental reps and physical reps don’t compare.”
It’s the reps as a leader that matter, too. Brown might not have dazzled with a spectacular run or a rocket throw, but when Mycah Pittman uncharacteristically dropped his second pass of the first half, it was Brown who pulled the sophomore receiver aside, talked him up and then found him early in the second half for a play that Pittman completed with a diving catch.
“Obviously, AB being a good leader and being a good vocal guy, he came up and patted me on the back and said, ‘Pitt, you got this, man.'” Pittman said. “I’m grateful for him — and embarrassed (about the drops).”
The Ducks are leaving open the possibility for one of the younger QBs to turn a corner this summer. Competition is important for everything the Ducks do, Cristobal said, and there’s no point in taking the carrot by just naming Brown the starter now. You never know what sort of development can happen, Cristobal said, and Saturday certainly made it easy to envision Thompson or Butterfield or Ashford one day leading a dynamic and flashy Oregon offense.
But in the immediacy for a team that has conference three-peat aspirations and the talent at skill positions to get it done, potential isn’t what the Ducks need. Brown is.
“(The freshmen) are very talented, but one thing about them is they’re supposed to be seniors in high school right now,” Brown said. “They did a really good job this spring, and I’m excited to see how they progress from here on out.”
(Photo of Anthony Brown: Soobum Im / USA Today)