EUGENE – Oregon will have a new starting quarterback in 2021.
Tyler Shough, who started all seven games for the Ducks and led the Pac-12 in passing efficiency in 2020, announced that he is entering the transfer portal.
“I would like to thank my coaches in Oregon for the opportunity and the many lessons learned over the past three years,” wrote Shough via Twitter. “A big thank you to the fans and the community of Eugene for welcoming me here and making this place special. Thanks to Coach Feld and the entire strength team for their support and countless hours spent in the weight room. Thanks, thanks to the boss, Travis, Steph, Rachel, Cody and all the athletic coaches in Oregon for their sacrifice, care and work. I will always love and appreciate you. I am grateful to the teaching staff for the constant help in the orientation that allowed me to graduate with two degrees in three years. Thanks to my teammates and brothers for making this place a home. I will always be valuing the bonds that we build together. Once Pato, always Pato. I am trusting the Lord and I am pleased to announce that I will enter the transfer portal as an undergraduate transfer with another three years of eligibility. “
Shough went 106 to 167 (63.5%) to 1,559 yards with 13 touchdowns and six interceptions and had 66 carries for 271 yards and two scores in 2020, his first season as a starter after serving as a reserve for Justin Herbert in 2019, and led the Pac-12 in the draw frame efficiency (160.38).
The second year piece of the red shirt regressed from November to December. He went from 65.8% of his passes completed with 10 touchdowns and four interceptions to 289.5 yards per game with an efficiency rating of 170.31 (16th nationally) in Oregon’s first four games against Stanford, Washington State, UCLA and Oregon State to 58% with three touchdowns and two interceptions of 133.7 yards per game and an efficiency rating of 137.17 (46th nationally) in the final three games against Cal, USC in the Pac-12 Championship and Iowa State game at the Fiesta Bowl.
Shough was just 7 from 9 to 79 yards with a late interception at the Fiesta Bowl when he started the game making 3 in 3 for 41 yards, but was replaced in favor of Anthony Brown and did not reappear until the end of the third quarter, more than two hours in real time.
After the Fiesta Bowl, Shough said he “was not sure how to interpret” being placed on the bench after his opening drive and a one-shot drive that resulted in a disaster, but that he was “more hungry than ever” and said that he would return to OU to compete for his initial job during winter and spring training.
“I’m going to take what’s right in front of me and keep working hard,” said Shough on January 2. “Obviously, no decision is being made. I will control what I can control and work hard throughout the off-season. I will continue to prove myself. It seems that a lot of people will continue to doubt me, and I will continue showing what I can do and showing me that I am right, because I know my skills and I know that I can help and do for this team.
“I think it will show, and I know it will show. … I will invest myself completely in this off-season both mental, physical and spiritual. Because, as I said before, I know what it takes and I know how far I have to go and how we have to go as a team. So it’s just beginning, for sure. “
Oregon’s quarterback room dropped to four: Brown, who did 15 from 24 to 164 yards with two touchdowns and had seven runs for 40 yards and two scores last season and was a three-year tenure at Boston College, the second freshman year Jay Butterfield and Robby Ashford and the real freshman Ty Thompson, the highest rated QB signer in the program’s history.
Shough is the eighth player with a bag and second quarterback to transfer from UO this season, joining Daewood Davis, Jayvaun Wilson, MJ Cunningham, Cyrus Habibi-Likio, Cale Millen, JR Waters and Isaac Townsend. Oregon is projected to have 84 countable stock market players and 92 in total by 2021.