The Oregon State Beavers had six different players throw the football in 2018. Now two of the players were non-quarterbacks involved in trick plays. Aiden Willard is a young QB on the roster who threw one pass. So it came down to three players slinging the football in Jonathan Smith's first season as head coach in Corvallis. Jake Luton was hampered by an ankle injury for part of the season. Conor Blount had his own injury issues and ran for his life much of the season. Jack Colletto showed his value as a short yardage runner but struggled throwing the football.
Passing - GP GS EFFIC COMP ATT INT PCT YDS TDS LG AVG/G
Luton 8 5 135.91 140 224 4 62.5 1440 19 63 207.5
Blount 9 6 135.90 95 153 2 62.1 1117 7 49 124.1
Colletto 8 1 72.09 23 47 3 48.9 201 0 40 25.1
All three quarterbacks did run the ball:
Colletto was the short yardage standout 31 carries for 97 yards and five TD's however he did have 81 mimus yards
Blount carried the ball 55 times for 141 yards with no TD'S and also had 171 yards for loss
Luton carried the ball just 28 yards gaining nine and had 153 minus yards
Now let's move to the present.
Conor Blount is now a QB at Eastern Kentucky. Jake Luton, Jack Colletto return along with Aiden Willard. Tristan Gebbia is the four- star transfer from Nebraska who is eligible. Nick Moore is a redshirt Sophmore and the younger brother of Beaver QB alum Matt Moore.
Luton is the 6'7" 230 redshirt senior who looked like the potential starter after the spring game. He has the experience and arm strength. He can shred defenses and has a group of quality wide receivers he can find. Checkout his Pac-12 player of the week performance last October:
OSU Hall of Famer Jim Wilson describes the Oregon State Quarterback situation this way:
"It's great to have two quality guys ready to go. The competition has already helped as Luton looks better. We know he can put points on the board but he has to stay healthy. On the flip side, we know that Gebbia has everything the Beavers need in a Quarterback but lacks experience. It will be fun to see how it plays out in camp".
What about Tristan Gebbia, who left Lincoln to come to Corvallis. Offensive Coordinator Brian Lindgren breaks down his game:
Now Gebbia doesn't have the size of Luton at 6'2" 195 pounds. He does have better mobility and a good arm. He could be a huge factor in 2019 depending on the health and success of Luton. Aiden Willard and Nick Moore wll be battling to move up on depth chart and what about Jack Colletto? He could be a short yardage factor again in 2019. Gebbia did have an ok day during the spring scrimmage at Reser and I asked him about it.
As it stands here in early July the starting job hasn't been announced but it will be hard go to against the experience of Jake Luton. But the position will be interesting to watch in training camp in a few weeks.
NEXT UP: Running back