Sean Mannion and Jared Goff needed a tiebreaker. They got one in the form of 2018 quarterback recruit Spencer Petras.
Mannion and Goff, now teammates on the Los Angeles Rams, faced each other twice in college when Goff starred at Cal and Mannion at Oregon State. In 2013, Mannion, a junior, got the better of the matchup, completing 35 of 45 passes for 481 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions in a 49-17 blowout win in Berkeley. Goff, a sophomore, was 21-for-31 for 220 yards, zero scores and one interception.
In 2014, Goff and Cal spoiled Mannion's record-setting day. The senior Mannion threw for 320 yards to become the conference's all-time passing leader but the Beavers lost at home after Goff engineered a fourth-quarterback comeback. The following spring, Mannion was drafted by the Rams in the third round. A year later, Goff was drafted by the Rams with the first-overall pick.
Goff beat out Mannion for a higher draft pick, bigger payday and more playing time, but he lost to Mannion on Memorial Day when Spencer Petras picked Oregon State over Cal.
Petras is a 6-foot-5, 207-pound three-star recruit (247Sports) from Marin Catholic High School in Greenbrae, Calif. He threw for 3,036 yards and 33 touchdowns as a junior in 2016, narrowly missing the single-season school record for passing yards. The record-holder? Jared Goff.
In late April, Petras tweeted a photo of the former Wildcats' quarterback to announce he received an offer from Cal, much to the delight of Goff:
#GoBears #pipeline #qbfactory #rollon https://t.co/kgcb5Wtsgo
— Jared Goff (@JaredGoff16) April 26, 2017
Five days later, Petras tweeted a photo of Mannion to announce an offer from Oregon State:
Very blessed to say I've received an offer from Oregon State! Big thanks to @CoachBaldwinTD. #GoBeavs pic.twitter.com/qP5MCobr7k
— Spencer Petras (@spencerpetras) May 1, 2017
And on Monday, a few weeks after visiting Corvallis — with his mom, who ironically attended the same high school as Mannion — and falling in love with the program and city, Petras committed to the Beavers. While he said Mannion and Goff might've been competitive about his recruitment and commitment, it's all in good fun and both wanted what was best for his future.
"I got a chance to speak to both of them over the phone to help with my decision," Petras told HERO Sports. "I've had a relationship with Jared for a while now, and Sean was kind enough to talk me through my decision and give me information on OSU."
Petras plans to graduate early and arrive in January, ready to take over a program that has struggled to find a reliable quarterback since 2014. After Mannion completed 64.6 percent of his career passes for 83 touchdowns and 13,600 yards, Oregon State signal-callers have a completion clip of barely 50 percent, 23 touchdowns and less than 4,000 yards.
Though the chance at immediate playing time and NFL Draft history (for both OSU and Gary Andersen) were important, Petras was equally impressed with off-the-field opportunities, namely Oregon State's Beyond Football program, calling it a "big" factor.
"The program helps mentor OSU football players by other successful people in their field of interest," Petras said. "The program holds guys accountable and puts them on the best path for their profession of choice."
"OSU is not a just a stepping stone to professional football," Andersen told HERO Sports last month. "We want our graduating seniors to change from young men into men, prepared to take care of whatever life they decide to create for themselves whether that be a long career in the NFL, a professional career, a family, whatever they choose."
Petras has yet to step on campus as an Oregon State student-athlete, or even sign a letter of intent, but he's already started his own version of Beyond Football with strong relationships with individuals in the profession of his choice, the NFL.
"[Tight ends] Coach Baldwin & [offensive coordinator] McGiven believe that I have what it takes to be one of the next NFL QBs from OSU."
And who knows, maybe in five years, Spencer Petras will step into the shoes of Sean Mannion and be the NFL quarterback mentoring an incoming recruit.
