Washington State Football: Gage Gubrud could be next Gardner Minshew

Mike Leach and Washington State football have a new quarterback. The NCAA has ruled Eastern Washington transfer Gage Gubrud eligible to play in 2019.

Washington State head coach Mike Leach has never been one to do things the conventional way. He’s also never been in charge of a blue-blood program which can beckon just about whichever players they want with their national brands. No, Leach has been forced to get creative. More often than not, though, Leach’s creativity seems to pay off.

Leach lured Gardner Minshew, a former East Carolina quarterback who was set to work as a graduate assistant at Alabama. He left Pullman tied for Luke Falk with a school-best 38 touchdowns in his singular season. Minshew is headed to the NFL opening a void for another quarterback to take his place. Leach has found his guy.

Eastern Washington might not be a national brand, but they’ve been one of the best programs at the FCS level for some time. They’ve won the Big Sky Conference six times since 2010, winning the national championship in 2010 and losing to powerhouse North Dakota State in the finals in 2018.

The quarterback for several of those playoff runs, Gage Gubrud, has transferred to Washington State. Gubrud was granted a medical redshirt for the 2018 season. He played in five games before suffering a season-ending toe injury.

Prior to his unexpected injury, Gubrud had produced some jaw-dropping statistics. In 32 games as EWU he’d thrown 87 touchdowns and was 16 yards short of 10,000 career passing yards. He threw for 1,416 yards and 13 touchdowns in his final four plus games with the Eagles.

Gubrud enters a spread offense which will amplify his production. He gets to end his collegiate career with a bang and Leach has yet another dynamic quarterback to captain his offense. Washington State might not have the talent to win the Pac-12, but they’re going to give everyone else fits.