Lights trio back to battling for QB1

There is no question that the Montana State University-Northern football team took a step forward this spring, but some key questions remain, such as who will be the starting quarterback next fall.

Of course, new head coach Andrew Rolin knows how important it is to find that guy. He played the position in college and coaches it every day in practice, in addition to calling the plays for the offense. The first-year head coach is committed to improving the position and it started this spring, working with the three signal callers left over from the previous coaching staff.

While the Lights have enjoyed plenty of turnover throughout the roster, the quarterback position is one that has the top three guys back from a season ago in Tommy Wilson, Bryce Missey and Dylan Cook. All three quarterbacks played in at least eight games a season ago and combined for 15 touchdown passes, as well as 18 interceptions.

Obviously, those numbers will need to get better. The completion percentage, which was 49 percent among all three quarterbacks, also needs to improve. And so far under Rolin, with 14 practices and one spring game under their belt, the quarterbacks seem to be taking steps in the right direction. Yet at this point, none of them have separated themselves either.

"We just need to keep evaluating them," Rolin said. "We do a quarterback efficiency chart so it's always interesting to see how that grades out. But it's too early to tell right now. I am just excited to get into fall camp and to keep seeing these guys compete."

Throughout spring football, all three quarterbacks have had their moments. Wilson and Missey have been the most consistent, but at times, Cook has also made things happen with his ability to run and his strong arm. However, in the spring game, there seemed to be even more separation between Wilson, Missey and Cook.

During the simulated scrimmage, Rolin gave the ball to the offense at its own 20 four times and with those drives split between Wilson and Missey, the offense managed to score three touchdowns. Wilson led two 80-yard drives, both of which ended with touchdown runs by him, while Missey directed his own 80-yard drive, one that was capped by a 33-yard touchdown pass to tight end Kitrell Willingham.

Missey continued to make big plays down the field later in the scrimmage. After hitting Jordan Pugh for 30 yards, he led the Lights to another touchdown, this time on a drive that covered 60 yards. Missey led a couple of other scoring drives in the red zone, including one that featured a 20-yard touchdown pass by the quarterback.

Even though the offense failed to reach the end zone under the direction of Cook, maybe the best stat from the spring game was the fact that the offense had zero turnovers, something Rolin was excited about.

"Taking care of the football is how you win games," Rolin said. "We talk about that all the time and these guys have done a good job with that. I tell them all the time they have the keys to the car and they just need to drive it."

Anytime a new head coach comes to a football team, there is going to be competition. That's just the nature of the beast. But after going through something similar last season, Wilson said he and the other quarterbacks are used to competing and pushing each other to get better."

"Having another quarterback competition is great," Wilson said. "All three of us love to compete and coach is going to bring in a couple more guys to compete and try to push for the job as well, so it's good to have that competition. I think all three of us have shown we have the ability to make plays. It also makes us strive for bigger and better things, because every day we are being evaluated."

If there is a lead dog in the Northern quarterback race, it might be Wilson, who opened last season as the starter and threw a team-high 11 touchdown passes in 2017. He also led the team in passing yards with 1,807 and tacked on 135 yards on the ground, as well as two rushing touchdowns.

During his time last season, Missey completed just 35 percent of his passes. He completed just 31-of-93 attempts but did throw two touchdowns and three interceptions. Cook also saw limited action, attempting 21 passes and throwing a pair of touchdowns. The young quarterback was also solid running the ball, averaging 4.5 yards per rush and scoring three touchdowns to go along with 183 yards.

As Wilson alluded to, Rolin plans to bring in at least two more quarterbacks for fall camp, although no official announcements have been made. That means there is a long way to go in this process, but Wilson said it's something he and the others have gotten used to.

"I am not really worried about it," Wilson said. "I have gone to multiple schools and every single year I have been evaluated and had to come in and earn a spot. So it's not that big a deal. You just have to come in and play your game. You can only do as well as you can do. Any time these guys (Bryce and Dylan) have questions, I try to help them out and they do the same thing for me. We have a bond together and we know that this is all to make us better and in the end, the better man will win."