Monday with Smith: Luton named starting quarterback

Jonathan Smith met with the media for his first game week press conference of the season. BeaversEdge.com has the story from the day below!

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With the first game of the season against Ohio State just days away, Oregon State finally put its quarterback derby to bed by announcing that senior Jake Luton will be the starter against Ohio State.

Smith added that Luton really won the job in the last week or so and that the goal of the coaching staff with the QB’s was to make it an open race where everyone had a chance to compete.

This marks the second straight season where Luton has been named the starting quarterback coming out of fall camp. Luton had his first season at OSU last year get cut short due to a thoracic spine fracture against Washington State that sidelined him for all but four games last season.

With Luton fully healthy and finding his rhythm in offensive coordinator’s Brian Lindgren’s offense, it was the right choice to go with your most experienced and veteran quarterback in one of the nations most hostile venues in Ohio Stadium.

“I was pleased with how it played out,” Smith said. “What really separated Jake was the last three or four practices. He began to separate, and really played well in the scrimmages. We’re completely behind Jake.”

Coming into the 2018 season, one commonly known narrative around the OSU football team was that while the Beavers had some Pac-12 caliber starting talent in Corvallis, the depth behind those starters was very very thing.

With the two-deep being released today, we got a chance to see just how thin the Beavers are at certain spots as 27 underclassmen and 11 true-freshman appeared on the week one two deep.

Isaiah Smalls, Teagan Quitoriano, Kolby Taylor, Jermar Jefferson, Jesiah Irish, Isaac Hodgins, Isaac Garcia, and Kaleb Hayes are several players who will be seeing a lot of snaps on Saturday against the Buckeyes.

Smith and his staff certainly aren’t afraid of trial by fire when it comes to true freshman as he indicated that the Beavers will be playing several young players in big spots with high expectations.

“We’re going to play the best players,” Smith said. “We’re excited for the opportunity for the youth in the depth chart.”

- Injury news from Smith: Calvin Tyler has been ruled out for the season with a torn ACL, David Morris will miss 4-6 weeks with a foot injury, Noah Togiai is expected to be out for at least a month depending on rehab, Jay Irvine has been dealing with a shoulder injury and might have a chance to come back towards the end of the year, and Jeromy Reichner is on the same timetable as Morris with a foot injury.

- Isaiah Smalls and Teagan Quitoriano will both split time at tight end with Togiai being temporarily sidelined. Both guys really grew into their roles as fall camp went along and while they may be true freshman, Smith really likes their potential.

- The Beavers will be sticking with one set group on the offensive line according to Smith. Kammy Delp and Yanni Demogerontas are listed as “or” at right guard on the depth chart, but right guard is the only position where Smith could see a mix of players rather than an established starter.

- One of the more newsworthy depth chart observations was that Shawn Wilson will be starting at safety opposite of Jalen Moore while David Morris recovers from his injury. Wilson, who’s listed at 5-foot-9, doesn’t have the physical stature of Morris, but Smith really likes his versatility as he mentioned that Wilson could play multiple spots on defense including cornerback and nickelback.

- With the Beavers’ facing off against perhaps the most physical opponent they’ll see all season, defensive line depth is still a concern for OSU. Smith said that while they had to release a two deep, expect heavy rotations from a lot of players on the defensive line. Smith singled out Kalani Vakameilalo and Isaac Hodgins as players who have been leaders on the field and have performed well.

- Smith on Ohio State: “It’s a great opportunity. It’s an awesome atmosphere to go into and we need to find out where we’re at. My message to the team is that we need to go and compete and play quality football.”