Oregon State will begin the season with Jake Luton as its starting quarterback, coach Jonathan Smith announced Monday.
The decision does not come as a surprise despite Luton's training-camp competition with Conor Blount and Jack Colletto. It's the second consecutive season Luton has emerged from a three-man competition for the starting job; his 2017 season ended in the fourth game when he suffered a thoracic spine fracture.
Luton, who began his career at Idaho, competed 83 of 135 passes for 853 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions last season. He spent the previous season at Ventura (California) College, where he threw for a school-record 3,551 yards and 40 touchdowns and was named his conference's offensive player of the year.
Oregon State begins its season Saturday at No. 5 Ohio State (noon ET, ABC/WatchESPN).