5 Things We Learned From Oregon State Spring Football
Following the conclusion of its 2019 spring session, the Oregon State football team now turns its attention to an important offseason in advance of fall camp. BeaversEdge.com senior writer Brenden Slaughter gives five things we learned from the Beavers over the course of spring.
MORE: WATCH: Oregon State Spring Game Interviews | 5 Takeaways from Oregon State's Spring Game | Spring Game Notebook: Smith expecting big offseason
1. The quarterback race will go well into fall camp
Heading into the second spring under head coach Jonathan Smith, there was one burning question that was at the top of everyone's minds heading into spring.
Who will be the Beavers' starting quarterback?
With Jake Luton and Tristan Gebbia firmly entrenched as the challengers for the quarterback job come August, it's now a wait and see game to see who rises and seizes the job in fall camp after a strong summer.
Luton has the slight edge early after having a strong spring, but Gebbia's biggest weakness in spring was still learning the nuances and complexity of the offense. He figures to be much more comfortable come fall camp and will certainly be on Luton's heels.
While it may be too early to start talking a starter knowing how close Smith has kept his cards in the past, it's something that needs to be talked about because this decision will have a large impact on how the team starts the 2019 campaign.
If last year was any indication, the Beavers may be following suit yet again. Smith and offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren carried the quarterback battle between Luton and Conor Blount a season ago several weeks into the season due to injuries and other factors, but all season long, Smith noted that he felt they had two quarterbacks that could win games.
Following the spring game on Saturday, Smith echoed a similar stance when asked about naming a starting quarterback.
"We're not ready to name a starter at this point," Smith said following the spring game. "We feel that we've got two guys who can win us games and we want to keep that working."
Given how coy Smith and Lindgren have been about how Luton and Gebbia stack up, it's fair to say that we might not know the starter until the middle part of fall camp. Oregon State hasn't had a two-man quarterback race this talented since the likes of Sean Mannion and Cody Vaz back in 2013 and I'd argue this one might have the potential to be even more so.
There's a long gap between now and when we see the team again in August, but if spring was any indication, this race could go down to the final week, maybe even right up until the home opener.
2. The defense could surprise
After having to hear about how porous they were a season ago, I think it's safe to say that the Oregon State defense, led by defensive coordinator Tim Tibesar, is looking to turn some heads this season by bringing a much-improved and retooled defense to the table.
After not having the necessary depth, experience, and team chemistry needed to be a good defense in the Pac-12 a season ago, the Beavers took ownership for their missteps a season ago and hit the ground running once the offseason started.
Thanks to an influx of talent in the form of incoming freshman, JUCO players, and several transfers, the Beavers were finally able to field a defense that could have the necessary rotations to unlock the full potential of Tibesar's aggressive and attacking 3-4 scheme.
Improved tackling, better decision making, and higher football IQ across the board were the biggest and most noticeable signs of improvement for the Beavers in spring.
When Tibesar arrived a season ago, he was given a relatively young defense with very little depth up-front, inconsistency in the middle, and holes in the secondary. Because of that, Beavers were forced to play a very vanilla defensive scheme where they simply had to make due with the best that they had.
Now that the Beavers were able to add talent and address areas of need, the returning veterans can now lead what is looking like a dynamic group on defense for the Beavers. Smith called the offseason the most important summer of each of these players' lives and it perhaps applies most to the defense. They were pushed around, kicked sideways, and beat up throughout last year and that's going to continue to sit with the Beavers until they can prove otherwise.
It's hard to gauge exactly what that improvement will look like on the field, but make no mistake, the Beavers won't be a team that's undermanned on defense this year.
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