Players vie for starting quarterback

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The next few weeks could dictate the course of the MSU football team’s season.

Minus one starting quarterback following the graduation of Brian Hoyer, sophomores Kirk Cousins and Keith Nichol will battle during fall camp to determine MSU’s starting quarterback.

The Spartans open the 2009 season Sept. 5 against Montana State at Spartan Stadium.

To this point, Cousins and Nichol have engaged in an even battle.

The competition was even through spring football practice. One was expected to emerge during the annual spring game, but that never materialized as both threw for 357 yards and four touchdowns.

“The situation we have right now is certainly unique, at least from my experiences, my years coaching quarterbacks, where it’s this tight, with two quarterbacks of this quality with the character that they have and the desire,” quarterbacks coach Dave Warner said.

MSU head coach Mark Dantonio said one great practice or one poor practice won’t torpedo either of their chances. He said it will take a string of good or poor performances to set one apart from the other.

“At some point, you have to make a decision and go with one, but it doesn’t mean the other one isn’t going to have opportunities either,” Dantonio said. “And that’s a tough call sometimes. But we’re going to evaluate this on the practice field and in the meeting rooms.”

At MSU’s Media Day Tuesday, Dantonio seemed bearish on using a two-quarterback system.

“You have to allow a quarterback to be in rhythm,” Dantonio said. “Does that mean a half, a quarter? It depends on how many plays they get. You have to evaluate how August is going to go and that’s the first part of the process. If we come out of August and everything is like it was, then you move to the next thing.”

When asked what his thought would be if Dantonio does decide to utilize a two-quarterback system, Nichol had a simple answer.

“If we win games with it and if we’re scoring touchdowns with it, I’m fine,” he said.

Cousins saw spot action in five games last season, most notably against Ohio State and Georgia. He completed 32 of 43 passes for 310 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He said he’s improved mentally through spring practice.

“Anytime you go through spring ball and two-a-days, you get a lot better at running the show and being confident on the mental side of the game,” he said. “A big part of being quarterback is knowing what you are doing mentally.”

Nichol, who transferred from Oklahoma following the 2007 season, sat out last year per NCAA transfer rules. He said he came to campus last May weighing 204 pounds but has since bulked up to 220 pounds. He added he’s faster than he’s ever been.

“It’s tough because a lot of people put hype on it,” Nichol said of the competition. “But only one guy’s out there, only one guy’s a starter, only one guy’s going to get all the publicity, so it’s tough, but we’re great competitors.”

And with the team’s first scrimmage of fall camp coming early next week, both quarterbacks are ready to go.

“The scrimmages are magnified a lot more than the practices,” Cousins said. “You really want to play well on those scrimmage days. It’s a great opportunity to show the coaches what you have and what you can do. We’ve got to prepare and get ready to go by then. It’s a big day and we have to go in there relaxed and play the best we can.”

Said Nichol: “The scrimmages are exciting. I’m anxious to compete again. The spring game was as much fun as I can remember having. Just having 20-30,000 people made it seem like a huge crowd when I was out there.”

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