The parade of quarterback announcements continues Monday, with Oregon State the latest to officially hitch their cart to a player at that position.
Following a lengthy competition with few hints, head coach Mike Riley announced Monday that Sean Mannion will be the starter against Eastern Washington in the opener. Mannion won the job over Cody Vaz, the former’s competition since the spring of last year.
According to the Corvallis Gazette-Times, there’s no specific plan in place to play both quarterbacks in the opener, but that Vaz “will be ready to go as always.” Riley then added that "[i]t’s great to have both of these guys.”
And both those guys it was in 2012.
Mannion, who ended up starting most of 2011 over Ryan Katz, started the first four games last season before sustaining a knee injury. Vaz then filled in, and won, the next two games for the Beavers before Mannion made his return in a loss to Washington. That prompted Vaz to return to the top of the depth chart against Arizona State, but an ankle injury the following game against Stanford put Mannion back in charge of the offense. Vaz then was given the nod in Oregon State’s appearance in the Alamo Bowl against Texas.
So, yes, this has been a quarterback seesaw that’s gone on for the better part of a year.
Ultimately, Mannion passed for 2,446 yards with 15 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 10 games (eight starts) last year; Vaz had 1,480 yards passing, 11 touchdowns and three picks in seven appearances (five starts).