Oregon State heads into the start of spring practice on April 6 with a three-man race for the starting quarterback job.
But is it a legitimate three-man race between Tristan Gebbia, Chance Nolan and Ben Gulbranson, where each quarterback has a 33.33% chance of winning the starting berth?
It’s never that simple. At the outset, don’t expect much, if anything from Gebbia this spring. He’s recovering from hamstring surgery. Even though spring practice was pushed back a month and ends May 8, OSU offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren said he doesn’t expect Gebbia to be seriously involved in practice until preseason camp in August.
Gebbia was injured while trying to score a touchdown against Oregon on Nov. 27. Gebbia started the first four games, but didn’t play the final three.
It’s because of this that Lindgren calls the battle for the 2021 starting job unique. Lindgren speculates that had Gebbia finished out the season, and perhaps led OSU to a couple more wins, it’s possible the starting quarterback job might not be up for grabs.
“I thought that he was on an upward trend when he got hurt,” Lindgren said. “Oregon was his best game of his career. I think guys believed in him that he could be the guy.”
But that’s not how it played out. Nolan started the final three games, and gave the Beavers a sense of what he could accomplish.
Then there’s Gulbranson, the big-armed true freshman who gave OSU a taste of what’s possible by leading the Beavers on a touchdown drive during the final two minutes against Arizona State.
“They get the whole spring, and all the reps in the spring,” Lindgren said. “We’ll know more after the spring. Our plan right now is to get Ben and Chance as many reps with the first two groups as we can.”
In a sense, Lindgren says 2020 wasn’t completely fair for Nolan and Gulbranson, as neither got much of last spring to develop. Spring practice was cut short after four practices due to the pandemic. Then there was the disjointed offseason, where the 2020 season was on, then off, then on again in an abbreviated fashion.
Spring practice gives Lindgren and the offensive coaches 15 good days to evaluate Nolan, a dual-threat type quarterback, and the pro-style Gulbranson.
How it plays out heading into preseason camp is anyone’s guess. It’s partially based on how Gebbia bounces back from his injury, and what happens this spring between Nolan and Gulbranson.
“Maybe one of those guys really runs with it in the spring, and then we’ve got some decisions, or maybe a competition potentially,” Lindgren said.
If Gebbia is back to 100 percent, Lindgren said that it’s possible he heads into camp with a slight edge, even if Nolan or Gulbranson shines in spring ball.
“I do think Tristan was on an upward trend, and we’re confident what he can do with what he can do,” Lindgren said.
In each of coach Jonathan Smith’s first three years at Oregon State, the starting quarterback job went down to the final week of preseason camp. In 2018, Jake Luton beat out Conor Blount for the job, and again in 2019, this time over Gebbia. Last season, Gebbia won the starting dual over Nolan and Nick Moore.
Expect nothing different in 2021.
“Any time you’ve got some talented guys in the room, and they’re all on a level playing field, got a little taste of game action … I’d be shocked if didn’t go to the end,” Lindgren said
As for the production of Oregon State’s quarterbacks in 2020, it was a process. Gebbia was the only quarterback on OSU’s roster with a career FBS start, and that was only one game. Lindgren said they knew there would be a learning curve at quarterback. He takes a glass-half-full approach to what he saw.
“We didn’t feel like we played at the level at that position that we need to,” Lindgren said. “But I think those guys learned a ton, got some good experience. But we’ve got to play at a higher level this fall.”
Lindgren said it wasn’t all on the quarterbacks. OSU lost seven starters on offense, four that ended up on 2020 NFL rosters. The Beavers never landed on a consistent group of receivers, and given that, Lindgren said “we never really clicked. Then Tristan got hurt … I never thought we got into sync passing game-wise.”
The lack of spring football in 2020 was the biggest setback in Lindgren’s opinion. It hurt Gebbia to a degree in building a relationship with receivers, but Lindgren said it significantly impacted Nolan, as the JC transfer was trying to learn OSU’s offense.
“I think we missed some reps and it showed,” Lindgren said.
In retrospect, Lindgren said he wishes they had dialed back the playbook, particularly when Nolan took over starting duties.
“We probably should have done a little bit less and tried to get a little bit more detailed on plays we used,” he said.