7/7/2021 football Edit

BeaversEdge Top 25 for 2021: No. 18 Chance Nolan

Brenden Slaughter • BeaversEdge

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In the months leading up to the start of fall camp, BeaversEdge.com will be counting down the Top 25 Oregon State football players on the 2021 roster.

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MORE: How OSU Has Utilized The Transfer Portal | What Is Oregon State Getting In Quincy Wright

Chance Nolan

No. 10

6-foot-3, 201-pounds

Quarterback

Redshirt Sophomore

Menifee, Calif.

Paloma Valley HS

STATS: 537 yards and six touchdowns on 46-of-91 passing (50.5 percent). Also rushed for 147 yards and one touchdown on 30 carries

2020 Recap

Serving as Tristan Gebbia's primary backup for the first half of the 2020 campaign, Nolan was thrust into starting duties for the remainder of the season after Gebbia suffered a season-ending injury against Oregon.

After helping seal the victory over Oregon with a game-winning touchdown, Nolan went on to start Oregon State's final three games against Utah, Stanford, & Arizona State. While he didn't lead the Beavers to a win during that stretch, he showed flashes of what he can bring to the position.

He finished with 537 yards and six touchdowns while completing 50.5% of his throws. Nolan also showcased his dual-threat ability as he also rushed for 147 yards and one touchdown on 30 carries.

While he wasn't able to help push the Beavers to a win on the field, Nolan helped kickstart the passing attack and showed glimpses of being a very dynamic player at the position.

Heading into this upcoming campaign, he'll need to bring more consistency to the table if he wants to win the starting job as the Beavers' quarterback room has only gotten stronger in the offseason.

2021 Outlook

Heading into the 2021 campaign, Nolan finds himself in the midst of a quarterback battle with Tristan Gebbia, and Colorado transfer Sam Noyer for the starting job.

The 6-foot-3, 201-pounder received crucially valuable experience last season in place of Gebbia, but didn't necessarily do enough to prove that he's going to be the Beavers' long-term solution at the position.

That's not to say he can't be that guy, but for him to be, he'll need to improve in several areas of his game, most notably poise and decision-making. That comes with time and experience in the system, so now that he's been with the team for over a year, I would expect him to be far more comfortable under center this season.

For Nolan to win the job and beat out Gebbia/Noyer, he'll need to have a very, very strong fall camp on the heels of a so-so spring session. While he flashed some solid moments, some of the accuracy issues resurfaced in spring as he wasn't quite as sharp as he could have been.

However, you could tell that Nolan looked far more at home running the offense in spring and that's a very good sign heading into fall camp. Whereas he was playing catchup in fill-in duty last season, he's now in full command of the offense and all its intricacies.

While I think the presence of Gebbia/Noyer will make winning the starting job tough, Nolan is more than capable of doing so and that's why I have him as the dark horse heading into this competition.