11/30/2020 football Edit

Gebbia uncertain for Utah, Beavers confident in Nolan

Brenden Slaughter • BeaversEdge

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Oregon State may be without starting quarterback Tristan Gebbia against Utah on Saturday as head coach Jonathan Smith announced that the injury sustained turned out to be worse originally thought.

"It's significantly more serious than we originally thought after the game," Smith said. "We're hoping to gain more information today and see if we can get him close by the end of the week and go from there."

The 6-foot-2, 201-pounder suffered a left hamstring injury following an unsuccessful third and goal attempt looking for the go-ahead score with under a minute remaining where he was sandwiched at the bottom of the pile. Gebbia came up limping and needed to be helped off the field before four-star recruit and backup Chance Nolan came in, scored, and helped lead the Beavers to victory.

There was perhaps some controversy as far as how Gebbia got injured, and whether or not it was with malicious intent, but per Smith, those sort of things can happen in those do or die situations.

"It was definitely a pile. At the moment of that play, the game is in the balance and both sides are going to do whatever they can to either get a yard or not. It was unfortunate that he wasn't able to finish the game."

While Gebbia's injury is unfortunate on many levels, the football season pushes on and the Beavers will have to be ready for a very angry Utah team. After having several games lost due to COVID-19 and starting the season with an 0-2 record, the Beavers will have their work cut out for them.

Given the nature of hamstrings and the general recovery timelines, I think it's very likely Nolan gets the nod this weekend. I do think the Beavers will try and get Gebbia ready as best they can, but saying he might play makes Utah's defensive game-planning tougher and is an advantage to Smith and Co.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Nolan was one of the gems of the Beavers' 2020 recruiting class and he'll certainly bring a new element of mobility to the offense should Gebbia not be ready to go. It's always tough to decipher coach speak, but if you read between the lines, Nolan appears primed to earn his first career start.

"If Tristan goes, he goes. If he doesn't, we feel great about Chance and what he brings to the table. He's been taking reps with the 1's in practice and has really come on the past couple of weeks now that he's got an entire fall camp and multiple games under his belt. He's definitely ready and we feel confident with him."