Dan Lanning explains what Matt Rush brings to Oregon quarterback room

Dan Lanning made a surprising move on Tuesday, adding another quarterback to the roster. Matt Rush will be on the Oregon roster this season, being one of five quarterbacks. Rush will join presumed starter Bo Nix alongside Austin Novosad, Marcus Sanders, and Ty Thompson.

When asked what Rush brings to the table, Lanning said adding another set of eyes never hurts. Rush does have experience at the position, playing at the Division III level. Lanning felt comfortable adding another body to the room and had no problem with Rush joining the squad.

“There’s times where you find guys around that are on campus that can help you if there’s somebody that can enhance it,” Lanning said. “From a numbers standpoint, I felt we had room for another guy that can be out there to help us that’s had experience as a player. We want to be able to take advantage of that and Matt has that.”

Rush technically could be an addition through the NCAA transfer portal for Oregon. He has spent the past two seasons at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri — serving as their starting quarterback. The stats produced were good ones as well.

In 20 games played over the past two seasons, Rush has thrown for 5,043 yards with a 66.8 completion percentage. Rush added 54 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions, as both are split down the middle over the two different campaigns.

Rush might have not played at the highest level. But since he is on campus at Oregon, Lanning saw nothing wrong with bringing him in and helping out.

Oregon, Dan Lanning sporting young quarterback room

As Rush steps into the quarterback room, he will be the second most experienced player available to Oregon. Of course, Nix has been a starter going back to his freshman season at Auburn. Outside of those two though, Lanning has some youngsters on his hand.

Thompson has played in 10 career games but attempted just 35 passes. A former five-star prospect, he could be the starting quarterback of the future in Eugene. But until he gets some real game reps under his belt, Thompson will be an unknown.

As for Novosad and Sanders, neither of them has taken a collegiate snap. The former was a member of the 2023 recruiting class while Sanders is a redshirt freshman. At the very least, Lanning was able to add an experienced player in Rush to add some wisdom.