A changing of the arm.

Byline: Bob Rodman The Register-Guard

CORVALLIS - It has been nearly seven years and 76 games since Oregon State has had a starting quarterback other than Jonathan Smith or Derek Anderson.

Who will be the heir to the Smith/Anderson regime, one that led the Beavers from the ashes of nearly three decades of football futility to five bowl appearances in the past six years?

One in which passing and offense records, first set by Smith and then reset by Anderson, fell like a hard rain?

"Big shoes to fill," said Danny Langsdorf, on the job as OSU's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for just seven weeks.

Matt Moore, Ryan Gunderson, Brian Hildebrand and Sean Canfield are seeking to fill the vacancy.

"I don't know these guys at all," said Langsdorf, who spent the past three years as an assistant coach with the NFL's New Orleans Saints, "but we'd like someone to surface by the end of spring. I'm just not sure that will happen."

Each of the candidates has his own flag to wave, his own hurdle to clear.

Perhaps the most intriguing is Canfield, a strong-armed, 6-foot-4, 210-pound kid who, under normal circumstances, would still be attending classes at Carlsbad (Calif.) High School.

But because the 18-year-old could bench press his academic requirements for graduation into one semester, Canfield is now a student at OSU.

"I know I'm supposed to still be in high school, but I wanted to be here for spring ball," the left-hander with a deft touch said. "There's a lot of learning to do."

Moore is the former UCLA quarterback who sat out last season, enrolled at Oregon State in January and has two years of eligibility remaining. He started five of his 13 games with the Bruins, throwing for 967 yards and four touchdowns.

"I've played (NCAA) Division I ball before," said Moore, a 6-4, 190-pound junior from Valencia, Calif., "but I haven't played in a game since November of 2003, against Washington State."

Gunderson is a sophomore from Portland with 17 career snaps and no starts. He spent his redshirt freshman season as second fiddle to Anderson last year, but Oregon State coach Mike Riley planted him atop the depth chart as spring practice began nearly two weeks ago.

"I've got nothing to lose," said the 6-5, 223-pound Gunderson, lured to OSU by former coach Dennis Erickson but caught immediately in the staff change when Erickson left for the NFL's San Francisco 49ers and Riley was hired for his second stint with the Beavers. "I never had anything to start with."

The 6-2, 201-pound Hildebrand is a redshirt freshman from Corona, Calif., who is aware of the challenges but said, "I've got four more years here and I want to move up in the ranks."

In a perfect world, it seems, OSU would put Canfield in a red shirt, let him work with the scout team this fall and set in motion a five-year plan.

Canfield said he wants to play but he realized there is competition for the job, "so whatever happens, happens."

Being the program's new starting quarterback "is in the back of everyone's mind," Canfield said. "We all have our good days and we all have our not-so-good days."

Riley made clear what most have been thinking since the end of last season when he said that "everybody will be paying attention to the position" of quarterback. "It's a great opportunity for the players and a big part of the development of this team."

Whoever lands behind the center for that first snap in the season opener on Sept. 3 against Portland State at Reser Stadium should not worry about trying to surpass Anderson's career records of 11,249 passing yards 79 touchdowns.

"We want to find a guy who can lead, make the right decisions and make throws," said Langsdorf, a graduate assistant at OSU during Riley's first two seasons with the Beavers in 1997-98. "We want him to play within himself. We don't want to have to rely on him too much but have him spread the ball around. We also want to run the football."

The Beavers are devoting a good deal of their attention to rushing, a part of the offense that produced a Pac-10 Conference-worst 70 yards a game last season. Even the quarterbacks are getting carries this spring.

"The offense is changing a little bit," said Moore, noting that the mobility of the quarterbacks is being factored into the OSU attack.

Langsdorf said "the word option might be a bit strong, but Matt can sprint out and run, Brian is very mobile ... with all these guys we have the ability to move the pocket.

"We're going to try and tweak the offense to cater to our quarterbacks."

So the learning and the adjusting continues.

"I'm getting used to the faster pace," said Canfield, who threw for 5,165 yards and 42 touchdowns in his prep career. "Once the ball is snapped, everything moves 100 times faster."

Gunderson said he had reached a comfort zone and understood that "the quarterback is going to be less critical to this team" than he was when Anderson had the job.

"Derek had the pressure to make the big plays," said Gunderson, who threw for 77 touchdowns and more than 6,000 yards during his prep career at Central Catholic. "Our job will be to get the ball to the playmakers."

Moore's take: "It will be hard to take over for Derek."

But, they all agreed, that is what they want to do. And believe they can.

CAPTION(S):

Oregon State's four candidates to become the next starting quarterback are (from left) Sean Canfield, Ryan Gunderson, Matt Moore and Brian Hildebrand. The Beavers plan to shift some of their offensive emphasis from the quarterback to the running backs.