Oregon State QB Luke Del Rio transferring again
Luke Del Rio is transferring again.
Del Rio, the son of Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio, began his career as a walk-on quarterback at Alabama despite having scholarship offers from Oklahoma State, Oregon State and Colorado State. After a year in Tuscaloosa as a backup, Del Rio transferred to Oregon State in January 2014 to play for Mike Riley, who left this offseason for Nebraska.
Del Rio was granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA and completed 8-of-18 passes for 141 yards in three games as a redshirt freshman for the Beavers in 2014.
Now, he’s on the move again.
“Luke has decided to transfer and we will support him,” Oregon State coach Gary Andersen said in a statement Thursday morning. “He has handled the transition very well and has done everything we asked of him. However, he feels it is time to start a new chapter in his life.”
Under Andersen, who arrived in Corvallis after two seasons at Wisconsin, the Beavers are moving toward a spread offense and Del Rio recently saw his time with the first unit decrease, according to the Oregonian.
“I want to thank Coach Andersen for the opportunity and wish all of my former teammates the best of luck this season and in the future,” Del Rio said, per the Statesman Journal.
Ahead of Del Rio are true freshman Seth Collins and redshirt freshman Nick Mitchell, both of whom are “more mobile” than Del Rio, per the Oregonian.
“If we were going to go into a game right now, we’d walk in there with Seth Collins, a true freshman. Then Nick Mitchell would be one and two, or it’d be 1A and 1B,” Andersen said Wednesday. “I couldn’t tell you who was going to start the game in this situation.”
Andersen said he would not name a starter until the fall. Del Rio’s decision to transfer narrows his choices down to just Collins and Mitchell. Those two, along with redshirt freshman Marcus McMaryion, the team’s only other scholarship quarterback, will further battle for the starting role during the Beavers’ spring game on April 18.
For more Oregon State news, visit BeaverBlitz.com.
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