Well-rounded boyhood prepared Oregon QB Austin Novosad for pressure and competition, a 40-year decision

 

After growing up in Dripping Springs, Texas, a boyhood spent chucking footballs, hunting and fishing, raising champion pigs, wake-surfing and getting straight A's, Austin Novosad was a wanted man by his senior year of high school.

In the spring Austin ran track. He posted a time of 15.67 in the 110-meter hurdles, a 40.78 300-meter hurdles, and triple jumped 42-7.5 as a junior. At the 5A District 26 Track and Field Championships

he ran the 400 meters in 53.69.

Folks around the community came to know him as the guy who was always carrying a football. His father Trey told the Houston Chronicle, “Always got a ball in his hands. At his sister’s soccer games, all the dads have played catch with him — they take turns — and they love it. He’s always throwing with a bunch of people.” 

 

Say what you want about the nerdy photo that's circulating social media, Austin with his champion pig, but it was an early introduction to pressure and competition.

Though he excelled in all of those situations, he'd gotten especially good at chucking footballs. After throwing for 40 touchdowns and 3399 yards as a junior at Dripping Springs High, Austin became an All-American, Elite 11 finalist and the 7th-rated pro-style passer in the United States.

Ohio State, Notre Dame and Texas A&M all wanted him to be their quarterback for 2023. He and his family toured camps and campuses, over a dozen in June 2022. Austin had a scholarship to Baylor, but he wanted to be sure about it.

The Buckeyes pressed hard. He worked out at Texas A&M, Texas, Texas Tech, UTSA. He threw footballs under the shadow of Touchdown Jesus on the campus of the Fighting Irish. He made the Elite 11 finals, finishing tenth.

He fielded daily phone calls from Jimbo Fisher. In Columbus, his sister got a picture with Joe Burrow.

His mom Nicki told Brent Zwerneman of the Chronicle, “Anywhere he picks I know will be an awesome experience. I just want him to be happy wherever he goes.”

In all the hoopla he stayed focused. His parents had met as students at A&M and he grew up attending Aggie home games in the era of Johnny Manziel, the Heisman Trophy-winning Aggie quarterback. Junior high, Manziel was the framed poster in his room, the legendary passer from his dream school.

 “It was cool to get that offer and something you've always worked for,” he said to Joey Kaufman of the Columbus Dispatch. “But I'm still making a business decision. Not sentimental, or what you like.”

Recruiting is ceaseless. Like Marcus Mariota or Justin Herbert before him, his tight, positive family structure kept him grounded. Ashton Pollard of Fighting Irish News asked him what he was looking for. 

“Academics, playing time and overall coaching staff and relationships,” Novosad said. “I (want) somewhere where you can get a good degree and have a good life after football, and network with the people at the school. One day, football is going to end, so having great academics is definitely a positive.”

He stayed with Baylor that summer, and as a senior he led the Dripping Springs Tigers to a 12-2 record that included a 69-14 win over Manor in the bi-district round of the Class 6A Division II Texas high school football playoffs. The district coaches picked him as the Unanimous Player of the Year.

For his prep career he was his school's all-time passing leader after completing 563-of-873 passes (64.5 percent) for 8,983 yards and 114 touchdowns with just 18 interceptions as a three-year starter.

He told Pollard, the reporter from the Fighting Irish News, “When you watch my film, I think the biggest thing is my ability to process the whole play, make the right reads, and be accurate. I think a lot of (high school players) run around and make plays, but when you get to the next level, you can’t do that."

All the 7-on-7, throwing and camp exposure, plus three years of 5A/6A Texas high school football have prepared Austin with exceptional footwork, vision, and touch. A 64.5% passer as a senior, he's supremely accurate, advanced in his ability to process at game speed and make good throws and decisions.

A week before Signing Day, he made a quiet visit to Oregon. He gotten to know new offensive coordinator Will Stein at UTSA camp, and he and his family wanted to check out the school and facilities, get to know the coaches. He liked the feel and the fit.

On Signing Day, he decommitted from Baylor and chose the Ducks.

He's slightly built at 6-3, 185 pounds, but as his body matures with the performance lab and weight training he'll get at Oregon, Austin might develop into an incredible college player. This season, he'll be a backup behind Ty Thompson and Bo Nix.