MSU-N starting quarterback decision coming soon

In their spring season, the Montana State University-Northern football team went back-and-forth through their quarterbacks to find the right guy. As the Lights went into their fall camp, they still had an open competition between four quarterbacks for the starting position.

During the first week of camp, MSU-N head coach Andrew Rolin has had to evaluate each player to find out which one gives him the best chance at victory. While he has yet to announce a start for their season opener, he believes they performed well in their most-recent practice on Tuesday at Lights Stadium.

"We're throwing a lot at them, but overall they're progressing fast," Rolin said. "They had a great day yesterday and a little bit of a drop off today but there's always room for improvement and so we'll watch the film. I need to watch the film, but they did some good things too, they really did."

As he decides who to roll with for their season opener against the College of Idaho on Aug. 28, he has already had his choices narrowed down as Oakley Kopp moved to safety in the first week of camp. Kopp came into the camp as one of three returning quarterbacks from last season as he started two games for the Lights in the spring. But he will now try to help the Lights on the other side of the ball under new defensive coordinator Mike Van Diest.

With Kopp playing defense now, that leaves Rolin with three options at quarterback. The newest option for Rolin to consider is transfer Kaymen Cureton. The quarterback started his collegiate career at Nevada before transferring to Eastern Kentucky and now MSU-N. While he has only been practicing with the Lights for about a week, Rolin believes Cureton is a fast learner.

"He's adjusted well. He put a lot of work in this summer to prepare himself. He didn't just jump into it without knowing anything so he's picking it up quick and I think he's really executing," Rolin said. "He's doing his job and doing it well and he's just got to clean up a couple things but the athletic ability's there, the arm talent's there and he's an extremely bright kid that's willing to learn."

The two other quarterbacks competing for the starting spot are Brenden Medina and Devonte Armstrong, who were on the spring roster last season. Medina has the most experience throwing the ball for the Lights as he started two games this past spring, where he threw for 535 passing yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions on a 58.6 completion percentage. While Armstrong did not start last season, he did get some playing time. With the return of two veterans to compete with an exciting prospect in Cureton, Rolin believes whoever wins the starting nod will have earned it.

"It's a fun competition. It's a fun group of guys that love to win and love to compete," Rolin said. "Only one guy gets to play. It's a tough position, but that guy will emerge and the cream will rise to the top."

Even though Rolin has not named a starting quarterback yet, he is nearing a decision and plans to announce it sometime next week. As he decides the quarterback position, he also needs to get the rest of his team ready for the fall season. With their most recent practice on Tuesday, he did not see the progress that he wanted and now needs to get them trending upward again over the next few weeks.

"We had a great day yesterday and it kind of plateaued a little bit today," Rolin said. "We need to bounce back tomorrow and have a little bit better energy and enthusiasm. The effort's always there, guys are playing hard and playing their butts off and so the execution a little plateaued today but we'll get better. We'll be better tomorrow."