MORGANTOWN — Along with Kansas State, three Big 12 programs enter preseason camp not having named a starting quarterback A look at those competitions:
OKLAHOMA
Baseball millionaire Kyler Murray is the presumptive pick to replace Heisman winner Baker Mayfield, though coach Lincoln Riley insists Austin Kendall has an equal chance.
“Kyler is not the quarterback yet,” Riley said. “There is good competition going on, and Kyler is going to have to fight like crazy to win this job.
Murray’s sophomore stat line looked dazzling in limited action: 18-of-21 passing for 359 yards and three touchdowns, and averaging 10 yards per carry. He did not throw an interception or lose a fumble.
While Riley said, “Kyler’s athleticism jumps off the screen pretty quickly,” redshirt freshman Kendall makes the race intriguing.
“Austin is a great pocket passer, very, very smooth. He’s really good with his progressions,” Riley said. “And he’s a sneaky good athlete. He’s not as flashy of an athlete as Kyler is, but he’s got enough athleticism to hurt people and make people pay.”
The Sooners visit WVU in the season finale, Nov. 23.
TEXAS TECH
McLane Carter made his only career college start at Texas, in November’s regular-season finale, and engineered an upset that made Red Raiders bowl-eligible. It will be a shocker if the junior doesn’t start Sept. 1, against Ole Miss.
Yet, to hear Kliff Kingsbury tell it, dual-threat sophomore Jett Duffey and true freshman Alan Bowman also are in the mix.
“This is the first fall camp I don’t know who it’s going to be,” Kingsbury said. “I really don’t. I’ve tried not to pick a guy in my mind, so I’m going to keep it wide open and see who separates during fall camp.”
The Red Raiders host WVU on Sept. 29.
KANSAS
After stops at Washington State and Itawamba Community College, Peyton Bender begins his final season at K.U.
Carter Stanley is a junior with 18 games’ worth of experience, though the Jayhawks won only two of them.
Junior-college signee Miles Kendrick is a 5-foot-10 dual-threat quarterback with three years of eligibility remaining.
“We’re going to narrow it down to two pretty quick, and our guys understand there is an urgency to get yourself into the top two,” coach David Beatty said. “We’re going to prepare all three because it’s a rough and tumble league for quarterbacks. But we would like it get it down to ‘the guy’ pretty quickly.”
The Jayhawks visit WVU on Oct. 6.
