Nebraska football: Exciting quarterback battle to come In 2018?
By Matt Sernett
Patrick O’Brien
Height/Weight: 6’ 4”/230 lb
Year: Sophomore
QB Type: Pro-Style
Of these three, O’Brien is likely the only one that returns for the Nebraska football team with game time experience. In 2017, he threw for 192 yards, zero touchdowns, and one interception. While they aren’t eye-popping stats, keep in mind they came over about 3 quarters worth of game time split between Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Minnesota.
O’Brien barely ran for positive yardage with 4 yards in 2017. He showed signs of potential during the Minnesota game where he ran for 41 yards before sack yardage was subtracted from the 6 times he went down. Avoiding the sack is something O’Brien would likely get better at with more game time.
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O’Brien was recruited by Mike Riley to throw passes from the pocket, but he’s not letting Frost’s offense intimidate him. In an interview with HuskerOnline, he said that the new offense “matches his skill set”.
It seems that O’Brien is here to compete, and his legs have more potential than Lee’s ever did, but will it be enough to win the job?
Tristan Gebbia
Height/Weight: 6’ 3”/185 lb
Year: Redshirt Freshman
QB Type: Pro-Style
Redshirt Freshman Tristan Gebbia is the most mysterious of the candidates, as we have not seen him take a snap in a Nebraska Football game yet. However, he should not be overlooked.
In high school, Gebbia produced nearly unbelievable numbers, passing for 5338 yards for 61 touchdowns in just his senior season. Yes, you read that right. And although he was recruited as a pro-style quarterback, he also ran for 293 yards and 10 touchdowns, showing some potential in his legs.
Gebbia’s biggest disadvantage comes with his 185 lb weigh in. When you put all Nebraska QBs side by side, he would definitely lose the eyeball test. While it would certainly be in his favor to keep hitting the weight room, his size is nothing that good skill and execution couldn’t overcome.
2018 is Gebbia’s first year of full eligibility, so I’d expect him to stick around and compete at his highest level for the job.