The Oregon State football team kicked off spring football practices on Tuesday at the Prothro Practice Fields under sunny skies and BeaversEdge.com Managing Editor Brenden Slaughter was live in Corvallis to report on the first practice of the calendar year.

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--Football is back! After many months of waiting since the conclusion of the 2019 season, the Oregon State football team returned to practice to kick-off the third year of the Jonathan Smith era. Smith hinted to the media last week that spring practices were going to be a different feel and vibe compared the past two years, and that was evident early-on as the Beavers no longer look like a team that's trying to put it all together. The "Smith" culture is in full-force in Corvallis there's no doubt there's a really good buzz about where the program is headed this season and beyond.

- With today being the first day, the Beavers weren't in pads and didn't do a ton of live work, electing more to focus on individual position groups. I anticipate the live-action will ramp up in the coming days and practices once the acclimation period is lifted.

- Starting with the quarterbacks, it's clear that Tristan Gebbia is the guy early-on as his command of the offense and chemistry with the receivers puts him in a class of his own after day one. His footwork and timing are much crisper than last season and it's clear that he spent a lot of time fine-tuning his craft this offseason. He had a few passes get away from him (one that Jaydon Grant nearly took to the house), but mostly I was very impressed with what Gebbia did today.

- On the flip side of the coin, newcomer Chance Nolan looks like he's going to need some time to acclimate to Lindgren's offense. He's oozing athleticism and has nice touch on his throws, but is still somewhat raw as a passer as we saw him miss a couple throws. Nolan noted after practice that he feels that timing will come with more knowledge of the playbook and that more reps will help him become more in-tuned with the Beavers' offense.

- Ben Gulbranson was impressive in the limited reps that he took today... there was some question about how quickly he'd be ready to compete at this level as he was still a little raw in terms of accuracy in HS, but he looked the part of a QB that had been in Lindgren's QB room for multiple seasons. He received ample reps behind Gebbia and Nolan and could be a lot further ahead in his development than previously thought. It's early on, but he was definitely one of the bright spots today.

- Nick Moore, Aidan Willard, and Jackson Chryst were the other QB's to take reps on Day 1.

To continue reading the full practice report, CLICK HERE