Former Duck Austin Novosad tabbed as fascinating QB entering 2026

Following the 2025 season, 31 players departed from the Oregon Ducks roster via the transfer portal, seeking more opportunity elsewhere. Reserve quarterback Austin Novosad was one of the more prominent names to do so.

>Rated as a four-star and the No. 13 quarterback in the 2023 class, Oregon managed to flip Novosad from Baylor after five-star Dante Moore spurned the Ducks and himself flipped to UCLA. A top 200 prospect, the flip was considered a significant win for Oregon especially how quickly it came after losing Moore.

>But the 6-foot-3, 205-pound Novosad never could quite carve out a role with the Ducks. He saw his most action in 2023 as a freshman, completing 9-of-11 passes for 52 yards in garbage time. That ended up being the peak, as he was the third-string quarterback in 2024 and once again in 2025.

>Having transferred to Bowling Green of the MAC, where he's projected to be the starter this fall, intrigue is following the former Oregon passer. While The Athletic ranked Novosad as a Tier 7 (113th out of 138 overall) quarterback in college football, the lowest tier, he was named among seven of the most fascinating signal-callers to keep an eye on in 2026.

>"We never saw much of Novosad at Oregon," The Athletic's Antonio Morales wrote. "He spent the 2023 season behind Bo Nix, 2024 behind Dillon Gabriel and Moore, who joined the program after a season at UCLA, and 2025 behind Moore and Brock Thomas, who appeared to unseat Novosad for the backup role last year. Novosad has attempted 15 career passes, and 11 of those came in 2023. It’s been a while since he’s received extended playing time. For a former top 150 recruit, he’s a relative mystery — one we’ll learn more about this fall at Bowling Green."

>As late as the season-opener against Montana State in 2025, Novosad's pure talent was on display. In that game, he completed just 1-of-2 passes, but his lone completion was a beautiful fade ball down the right sideline for 40 yards.

>It was the final pass that he threw as a Duck.

>Now with Bowling Green, Novosad should have plenty of rope to work out his relative inexperience at the college football level. If he lives up to the billing as a four-star quarterback prospect, there's a chance he could be a bounce-back transfer that secures a Power 4 starting nod next offseason. And if that's not the case, he'll always have the "former Oregon quarterback" moniker following him.

>Intrigue, either way.

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>This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Former Duck Austin Novosad tabbed as fascinating QB entering 2026