While Nebraska football fans are readying themselves for Adrian Martinez, it’s worth pointing out Tristan Gebbia can run more than people think.
Yes, incoming freshman Adrian Martinez is the prototypical Scott Frost quarterback. That doesn’t mean he’s got the Nebraska football starting quarterback job locked down.
While Tanner Lee was not a fit for what the new Cornhusker coaching staff wants to do on offense, another quarterback on the roster could surprise some people when it comes how well he can run. Tristan Gebbia was a heck of a passer in high school.
That doesn’t mean that Tristan Gebbia was only a passer in high school. Yes, Mike Riley brought him into Nebraska because of his arm, but it seems as though the old staff liked that he wasn’t a statue in the pocket.
Y'all know Tristan didn't run a pro style offense in HS. Ran spread offense very much like what he's coming into now. Just wasn't permitted to run (got benched for half a game once when he did). But he can. #Huskers
— Chaz in SoCal (@Chaz_in_Socal) February 14, 2018
A deep dive of Gebbia’s statistics at Calabasas shows a player who had the ability to run when he needed to, and when he was allowed to. Over the course of his career, Gebbia ran for 542 and 20 (TWENTY) touchdowns.
It was the case 3 yrs only QB we had on Roster that wasn’t hurt was Tristan
— Bryan Wilson (@FrshYelGrizzly) February 14, 2018
His senior year was his best rushing year. That season he carried 77 times for 293 yards and 10 touchdowns. While his yards per carry were not great (3.8 YPC) his yards per game (19.5) show someone who can take off and run.
That's the great secret.Former Calabasas QB @tgeb14 was not only the 2nd best passer in California state history (#1 #socal), he can flat out run, and also makes great decisions on when to take off! https://t.co/eY1UYTuAGX
— Calabasas High School Football (@CalabasasFtball) February 14, 2018
The other reason why Gebbia’s rushing stats aren’t quite what you would expect from a Scott Frost quarterback is that his coaches wouldn’t allow him to run.
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When you’re a passer who is throwing for 5,338 yards and 61 (SIXTY-ONE) touchdowns your coaches aren’t going to want to risk you getting hurt running for a first down.
One of Gebbia’s old coaches at Calabasas admitted as much recently. Bryan Wilson talked about how the policy during the quarterback’s tenure was to keep him bottled up because they didn’t really have a backup plan.
Now, Tristan Gebbia isn’t going to be running for 1,000 yards for the Nebraska football team. He probably wouldn’t have the second most carries of anyone on the team the way McKenzie Milton did for UCF. He could, however, run enough that the Huskers could start him at quarterback while they wait for Adrian Martinez to adjust to the college game.