Lights QB Battle: Who will it Be?

When there's a quarterback battle in fall camp, everyone knows it. It's the center of attention at any college football program.

And it's certainly been one of the main attractions during the Montana State University-Northern Lights' fall camp, which ends with a preseason scrimmage today.

Unlike most quarterback battles, though, where just one or two guys have a big lead, the Lights have had four players competing for the vacant starting job since spring ball began last March.

And according to third-year head coach Aaron Christensen, all four, 2016 backup QB Holden Maki, junior college transfer Tommy Wilson, Washington State transfer Bryce Missey and red-shirt freshman Dylan Cook all still have a chance to nab the starting job as game week approaches.

"All four guys are still in it," Christensen said ahead of today's scrimmage. "We've told them all, it's a decision we weren't going to make until at least after the scrimmage."

The reason for letting all four battle for the job vacated by Caleb McLaren for so long is Christensen wanted to make sure the competition was on a completely level playing field. He wanted to wait and see how all four quarterbacks would operate the offense with a full knowledge of the playbook, and of the Lights' 2017 personnel.

"All four guys came in with a different level of experience," Christensen said. "Holden has been here, and he was the most comfortable with our offense. Dylan has been here, too, but he red-shirted last year. Then we have a kid who came in from a junior college where he played a lot, and we have a guy who transferred in from an NCAA school where he red-shirted. So we wanted to make sure we could evaluate them all with the same knowledge of our offense, and evaluate them all when they were most comfortable in our system.

"And I think we're there now," Christensen added. "The last two weeks, they've all shown they're comfortable with what we're doing now. So the scrimmage will tell us a lot."

When evaluating the four quarterbacks, especially after today's live scrimmage, which will bring fall camp to a close for the Lights, Christensen is obviously looking for the guy who gives MSU-N the best chance to win, but he's also looking for consistency.

Both McLaren, and Jess Krahn, who has since switched to tight end, had moments and games where they showed excellence in MSU-N's spread offense, but in the end, the Lights have finished the last two Frontier Conference seasons last in passing, last in total offense and last in scoring. So if the Lights' offense is going to make strides this fall, it goes without saying, quarterback play must be better.

"We're looking for consistency," Christensen said. "We want a guy who can make the plays, but we also want a quarterback who can be consistent. Consistent with not turning the ball over, completion percentage, making the right reads and throws, all of it. That consistency is something you have to have at that position to win football games."

And, it appears that all four MSU-N quarterbacks can bring that consistency to the table, otherwise, the battle for the starting job would have probably been over by now.

Maki, now a junior, is the only Light on the roster to have thrown a pass for not only Northern, but in the Frontier Conference. He backed up McLaren the final six games of last season. Wilson, who came to Northern last winter from the College of Sequoias in California, does bring starting QB experience to the table. Missey, a walk-on at FBS Washington State last season, hasn't played in a collegiate game, but he was a member of one of the top offenses in the NCAA, and got to learn from the likes of Heisman Trophy candidate Luke Falk and Wazzu head coach Mike Leach. And Cook, standing at 6-6 and 290 pounds with sprinter speed, is an intriguing athlete at the QB position.

So it's certainly easy to see why the Lights' quarterback battle has waged on longer than most.

"In practice, they've all shown they can play," Christensen said. "They all bring something to the table. Now, it's a matter of finding which one is the best fit. Which one can go out there in games and lead this offense, and execute. That's what we have to figure out now."

The Lights held their preseason scrimmage earlier today, which brings fall camp to a close. Northern will take Saturday and Sunday off, returning to practice Monday to begin preparing for their season-opener Sept. 2 at Rocky Mountain College.