Tristan Gebbia Named Starting Quarterback

After a quarterback battle that nearly lasted the duration of fall camp, Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith announced on Saturday afternoon that redshirt-junior quarterback Tristan Gebbia will be the starting quarterback.

"Tristan will start for us, which was well deserved, he had a great camp," Smith said. "We feel confident in the depth we have in the room, but we feel that he gives us the best chance to score points and win games."

The 6-foot-2, 201-pounder served as Jake Luton's primary backup last season and has been learning offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren's offense ever since he transferred in from Nebraska in the fall of 2018.

"When I was told, it's definetly not the end of the rainbow for me, because there's a lot more work to be done," Gebbia said. "It's a high honor to be named the starter, but for me, it's another step in the road and another thing for me to move off of. There's a lot of work ahead of me for what I believe a starter at Oregon State is supposed to look like."

The battle, which featured Gebbia, redshirt-sophomore Chance Nolan, redshirt-junior Nick Moore, and true-freshman Ben Gulbranson, was close early on in fall camp, but Gebbia was able to pull away and ultimately, seal the deal.

"He's been in this system for a long time. He really took advantage of last season preparing week in and week out knowing he was one snap away, and that really benefitted him," Smith said. "He was able to move the ball well throughout camp and was able to build chemistry with some of the new guys too."

As far as the backup behind Gebbia goes, Smith said that the Beavers haven't yet decided because they'd like to continue to see all three of those guys get more reps that they missed out on during the spring to see how it shakes out.

Oregon State will open the 2020 season next Saturday, November 7th against Washington State at 7:30 p.m. at Reser Stadium.