Luton: "This is the best I’ve felt in years"

Standing tall and sporting a new grey Oregon State Nike polo, Beavers’ senior quarterback Jake Luton had welcome news to share with the media on a day that was all about the future of the program.

“This is the best I’ve felt in years,” Luton said triumphantly. “I feel strong, I feel healthy, and getting in the weight room with (strength and conditioning coach) Mike McDonald has made me stronger. I’m in the best physical and mental state of mind in recent memory.”

As the 2018 season was coming to an end, there were rumblings of head coach Jonathan Smith poking around the idea of pursuing a sixth season of eligibility for Luton.

Luton downplayed the idea of a sixth season prior to the final game of the year against Oregon, but he knew he had options.

Even after Luton was granted the sixth year, it was still something he had to discuss with his family and look at the long term future goals to make sure this was the right decision for him.

“It’s really a different point of view,” Luton said. “Mentally, I had already gone through the process. I had my senior day and treated every day like it was my last and then all of a sudden, to know you could have more -- I had to take it all in and decide what the best move for my future was and coming back to Oregon State made the most sense.”

“We’re excited to have Jake for another year,” Smith said. “This offense did great things in 2018 and we look forward to building on that production this coming season.”

Luton has started nine games in his Oregon State career, throwing for 2,513 passing yards with a 62.1 completion percentage and 14 touchdowns.

The 6-foot-7, 230-pounder came to Corvallis in 2017 with high hopes of being named the Beavers’ starting quarterback and leading OSU back to prominence.

OSU was fresh off a 4-8 season in 2016, capped with a Civil War victory, and Luton was seen as the missing piece to what was expected to be a bowl contending 2017 team. Then head coach Gary Andersen was looking for a tall, cannon-armed quarterback who could help elevate the Beavers’ passing game to compliment Ryan Nall in the running game.

Unfortunately for the Beavers and Luton, it didn’t go smoothly.

The Beavers had a porous start to the season after being ambushed by Colorado State and barely after starting the first three games of the season, Luton missed the next eight games after suffering a spine injury in game four against Washington State.

After making a full recovery and returning to the practice field in spring of 2018 under a new head coach in Jonathan Smith, Luton battled through fall camp with Conor Blount and Jack Colletto for the starting job.

Luton won the job and was the Beavers’ starting quarterback against Ohio State, but suffered a concussion on the first series of the game that ruled him out for the remainder of the contest. He went on to start four additional games but was once again sidelined, this time with a nagging ankle-injury suffered against Nevada that caused him to miss all or parts of the other seven contests.

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While the injuries have been frustrating, Luton perhaps achieved his career-best moment when he led perhaps the greatest comeback in school history. Coming off the bench, he led Oregon State to a 28-point comeback overtime win at Colorado by throwing for 310 yards and three touchdowns in just the second half and overtime period.

As he settles in for his sixth season, Luton will be competing with the now-eligible Tristan Gebbia for the starting job. The 6-foot-3, 195 pound redshirt-sophomore sat out last season after transferring from Nebraska, and appears to be the Beavers’ quarterback of the future with three years of eligibility remaining.

“Having Jake back is huge,” offensive-coordinator Brian Lindgren said. “Having his experience in our offense is big for us. Leadership-wise, when he came in the last half of the season, he really elevated our play as an offense. I’m thrilled to have him back and help him get to another level.”

While Gebbia is certainly fighting to be the Beavers’ starter, he’s developed a great relationship with Luton and lauded how important him returning was for the betterment of the team.

“Jake coming back was great for the team,” Gebbia said. “It’s good to have depth at the quarterback position and he adds a lot of experience to the roster. It’s a fantastic thing for all of us.”

With the quarterback competition and spring football set to kick off in March, Luton has taken steps to become a bigger voice in the locker room while setting high expectations and leading by example.

“I’m wanting to be more accountable and not be just a player who’s taking stuff in from the coaches,” Luton said. “I’ve stepped into a leadership role as much as possible and have been getting the guys going and involved in the offseason.”

Time will tell how the Beavers perform in year two of the Smith era, but one thing is for sure, Luton coming back provides leadership, stability, and a fiery-competitive nature to a team that needs all the help it can in turning the corner.

Luton saw the potential for the Beavers’ in year two, and that’s a big part of the reason why he’s back donning the orange and black.

“We have a lot of talented players,” Luton said with a smile. “Our skill position guys are some of the best in the country in my mind. To have those weapons around me was really something to look forward to when deciding to come back for a sixth year.”