Jake Luton was named the starting quarterback today by head coach Jonathan Smith. Luton, a sixth-year senior, was named a captain earlier this week, and has started the past two season for the Beavers.
The battle for starter came down to Luton and Nebraska transfer Tristan Gebbia. Gebbia, a sophomore, seemingly closed the gap during fall camp, but ultimately it was Luton who received the starting role.
“I will say, I really think Tristan (Gebbia) made it tight the last week and a half with the way he was playing, but we felt at the end of the day, Jake deserves to go first,” Smith said Friday afternoon. “I still feel confident we have two guys we can score points with, and we communicated that with those guys a couple days ago.”
With Luton’s injury history, having two Pac-12 caliber quarterbacks is a strength for this Beaver team. But Luton is in the best shape of his life, and other teammates have noticed as well.