Jack Colletto at a practice session for the Oregon State football team at Beaverton, Ore., on Saturday April 14, 2018. Colletto played football at Camas High School. (Natalie Behring/for The Columbian)
CORVALLIS, Ore. — Former Beavers quarterback Jonathan Smith caps his first spring as Oregon State’s coach with a lot of attention focused on, yep, the quarterbacks.
Jake Luton, Conor Blount and Jack Colletto all saw reps Saturday in the team’s annual spring game, which was more of a scrimmage, or, as Smith called it, a “spring preview.”
Luton, a senior, leads the group. A community college transfer, last year Luton was sidelined in the Beavers’ fourth game by a thoracic spine fracture. He was replaced by senior Darell Garretson, who started eight games and threw for six touchdowns but eight interceptions.
While Luton seems to be the likely starter for now, there’s interest in his backup given what happened last season. Conor Blount redshirted last season after playing in four games for the Beavers as a true freshman.
Blount fared well on Saturday, with touchdown passes to B.J. Baylor and Timmy Hernandez.
“He threw some good balls,” Smith said afterward. “All those guys, they’ve got a skill set, and they’ve done a great job of learning.”
Colletto, a Camas High graduate, transferred from Arizona Western College, where last season he threw for 548 yards and four touchdowns, while running for 185 yards and nine more scores.
Smith said it was about what he expected. “Happy to be headed in the right direction,” he said.
Former QB Mason Moran switched to receiver this spring.
Smith is one of five new coaches in the Pac-12 this season. He was handed the challenging job in late November after a turbulent year. Coach Gary Andersen resigned midway through last season and was replaced in the interim with cornerbacks coach Cory Hall. The Beavers finished 1-11 and winless in the conference.
Smith helped lead the Beavers to a Fiesta Bowl victory following the 2000 season. He returned to Oregon State after serving as quarterbacks coach at Washington under coach Chris Petersen.
One of Smith’s early victories was landing four-star recruit Matthew Tago, a linebacker from Palmdale, California, who was also considering Nebraska.
But the Beavers will miss running back Ryan Nall, who declared for the NFL draft with a year of eligibility remaining.
Nall rushed for 2,216 yards during his career, ranked eighth on the Beavers’ career list. He ran for 24 touchdowns (seventh) and had nine 100-yard rushing games (seventh). He also had 56 catches for 563 yards and four touchdowns
Nall did not get selected, but was quickly snatched up by the Chicago Bears afterward. It was the first time in 19 years that Oregon State did not have a player drafted.
Sunday’s spring game was marked by the return of more than 100 former players, there to support Smith. Among them were Storm Woods, Micah Hatfield and Brandin Cooks.
“It’s huge for those guys to feel welcome coming back,” Smith said.
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