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Gage Gubrud: The Real Deal or Lucky Start?

By Tanner Sucher

Sep 3, 2016; Pullman, WA, USA; Eastern Washington Eagles quarterback Gage Gubrud (8) celebrates a touchdown against the against the Washington State Cougars during the second half at Martin Stadium. The Eagles won 45-42. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 3, 2016; Pullman, WA, USA; Eastern Washington Eagles quarterback Gage Gubrud (8) celebrates a touchdown against the against the Washington State Cougars during the second half at Martin Stadium. The Eagles won 45-42. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports /
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Is Gage Gubrud the next great FCS quarterback or a bust? He played a great first game but time will tell if hes the real deal.

Dare I say the next Vernon Adams? It’s too early to tell, but from the way Gage Gubrud played against Washington State he could turn out to either be the next big FCS star, or a giant bust.

Gage Gubrud was relatively unknown when he graduated from McMinnville (Ore.) High School in 2013. He came to EWU as a preferred walk-on and redshirted his freshman year, and mainly just held kicks during his sophomore year. He did see some time though during his sophomore campaign against the University of Montana where he  threw for 66 yards, completing 7-of-13 passes with an interception and also ran for 18 rushing yards with a touchdown.

It was a question coming into the 2016 season if Gubrud could lead the Eagles to their first conference championship since 2014. After a few spring games where Gubrud threw for 45 of 60 passes with 519 yards and 4 touchdowns, and don’t let me forget to mention only one interception. It was starting to look like Gubrud may be the real deal.

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Although Gubrud played well in a few spring games, that was nothing to the challenge of a Pac-12 school. Especially against a team that finished third in the Pac-12 last year in defense vs passing offense. So it looked to be quite the challenge for a quarterback who has never started a college football game let alone play against a Pac-12 school.

Gubrud sure did live up to the challenge though. He led Eastern Washington to a win, but he didn’t just do that, he absolutely lit up the scoreboard.  He completed 34 of 40 passes and threw for 474 yards, with five touchdown passes and only one interception. He also ran for 77 yards on 14 carries with a TD, which shows this kid can get it done with more than just his arm. That is a pretty impressive stat line for a quarterback starting his first college game against a Pac-12 team.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying he is going to be the next big thing, who knows? He may have just gotten lucky and won’t play that good again. There also is the chance though that he is the real deal and is one of the next top duel threat quarterbacks in college football.

We will be able to tell soon though because Eastern Washington has got their toughest game of the season coming up on Saturday September 10, 2016 against North Dakota State.  The Bison are the real deal, they are number one in the nation and the defending FCS national champion.

Next: WSU Cougars Look to Rebound Against Boise State

Saturday will be a deciding factor to foretell how good Gubrud actually is. It’s the biggest game of the season for Eastern Washington and the biggest test to see how talented Gubrud is physically, but also mentally, against the defending National Champion.

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