Oregon head coach Dan Lanning looks on as the Oregon Ducks host the Wisconsin Badgers on Oct. 25, 2025, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. Credit: Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
By Sam Neumann on

Dan Lanning had enough after Oregon’s 21-7 win over Wisconsin on Saturday night.

The No. 6 Ducks survived a sloppy, rain-soaked game at Autzen Stadium thanks to their defense holding the Badgers to seven points and backup quarterback Brock Thomas completing all four passes after Dante Moore left with a bloody nose in the third quarter. Thomas also threw his first career touchdown — to offensive lineman Gernorris Wilson, no less — and helped Oregon salt away a win that looked far more competitive than the final score suggested.

So when reporters asked Lanning postgame why Thomas continues to get backup reps over Austin Novosad and Luke Moga, Oregon’s more highly touted recruits, the head coach got testy.

“Our backup quarterback went 4-for-4 tonight,” Lanning said. “We won the game.”

“You don’t have to tell me,” the reporter replied.

“Well, then tell them,” Lanning fired back. “They should go to our locker room and see them carry Brock Thomas up in the locker room after the game. Like, our players see it every day in practice. When has Brock come in and not performed well for us this season? He’s done what we’ve asked him to do every time he’s come in, so people should stop worrying about it. And they should also know that those other quarterbacks are doing a really good job in practice, too, but Brock’s playing well, guys. Watch the film.”

Thomas is a redshirt sophomore walk-on from Eugene’s Sheldon High School, the same school that produced Justin Herbert. He’s 5-foot-11, 195 pounds. He entered the 2023 recruiting class as a three-star prospect. Novosad came to Oregon as a four-star quarterback from Texas in that same 2023 class, ranked 157th overall and the No. 13 quarterback prospect. Moga arrived in 2024 as a three-star from Arizona but was still recruited by major programs across the country.

Both Novosad and Moga have barely played this season. Novosad appeared briefly in the season opener against Montana State before missing time with an upper-body injury. Moga got some mop-up duty early in the year. Thomas has appeared in five games and is now 9-of-13 for 104 yards with one touchdown. He’s burned his redshirt. The other two are still trying to preserve eligibility options.

Oregon fans see a walk-on getting backup reps ahead of scholarship quarterbacks who were supposedly recruited to eventually compete for the starting job, and they’re confused. That confusion turned into concern when Moore went down against Wisconsin and Thomas — not Novosad or Moga — trotted onto the field.

Lanning’s clearly tired of explaining it.

He addressed the backup situation at his Monday press conference before the Wisconsin game and made it clear that Thomas earned the role through practice performance.

“Over time, he’s just done a really good job in practice,” Lanning said. “He’s operated well. Austin and Luke have done a really good job as well, but there’s not necessarily anything that Brock hasn’t done to earn those reps. He’s earned them in practice. We talk about rent is due in football every single week, and he’s been a guy who’s been paying rent and doing what he’s supposed to do.”

He did that and more on Saturday.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann