Kirk Cousins will start at QB for the Green and White against Montana State.
That’s right folks. Through all the speculation and questions, the drills and the scrimmages and the spring game in April, we now know who the starter will be. Well, against Montana State, that is.
Coach Dantonio told the Spartan Press Corps today that Kirk Cousins will be the starting quarterback on Saturday versus Montana State. He said that both Cousins and Nichol showed tremendous maturity through the entire process, and that it was probably the most difficult decision he has ever had to make with regard to starting a player in his head coaching career.
Keith Nichol, who as we all know transfered to Michigan State after losing the starting job at Oklahoma to some guy named Bradford last season, will see playing time in the first half of the game. Dantonio indicated the same thing that he has talked about all preseason, that this race is still very close, and that the eventual #1 guy will be chosen based on play in game situations.
Interestingly, Dantonio said during the press conference that he informed the guys of his decision Sunday night. No late Monday night war room meetings with the coaching staff (at least agonizing over the quarterback situation). No sleepless Monday night.
Word obviously didn’t get out to the media, so it’s a good sign that both Cousins and Nichol had the maturity to keep that information to themselves and let Coach D announce it at the appropriate time. He also said that he isn’t going to come out every week at the press conference and announce who the starter is. That’s no big deal if Cousins establishes himself as the superior quarterback this week. But if the two quarterbacks are fairly even, or if Nichol plays better than Cousins, media speculation could start to push things away from a quarterback competition and more towards a quarterback controversy.
Cousins and Nichol came out of the preseason scrimmages pretty damn close. Cousins was 19 of 43, with three TDs and two interceptions. Nichol, meanwhile, was 24 of 40 with three TDs and no interceptions. Nichol had a better completion percentage and no picks, but Cousins earned the respect of the team by being named a captain. In every interview that I watched of Cousins, he appeared to be level-headed and confident, and he exuded leadership. He just had that intangible “it” that’s hard to explain, but you know it when you see it. There’s a reason this young man has been named just the second sophomore captain in the program’s 112 year history. Now we need to see if it will translate to success on the field.
Other News:
- The other big competition of the preseason, the race to replace Javon Ringer, has been won by the redshirt freshman Caulton Ray (5’9″, 195 lbs.). True freshmen Edwin Baker (5’9″, 200 lbs.) and Larry Caper (5’11″, 215 lbs.) are listed as #2a and #2b on the depth chart behind Ray.
- Speaking of true freshman, Dantonio will likely play four freshman on Saturday against Montana State. TE Dion Sims is at the #3 spot behind Gantt and Linthicum. Caper and Baker are tied at #2 at the running back position. Chris Norman is listed behind Eric Gordon at the Sam linebacker position. Quarterback #3 on the depth chart is freshman Andrew Maxwell, but it is very likely that Maxwell will not see any snaps on Saturday.
- There was a little bit of ambiguity here, but it appears very likely that RB Glenn Winston, who was recently released from jail, will in fact play on Saturday either as a running back or as a kick returner alongside A.J. Jimmerson.
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