The Falcon football team released its two-deep for its season opener at Idaho Sept. 1, and there weren't many surprises.
During fall camp it seemed sophomore Matt Schilz had an advantage over freshman Trent Hurley, and coach Dave Clawson confirmed Thursday that Schilz would be the starter. But Clawson also said the decision wasn't easy.
“At the end of the day, you can compare all the numbers and you can compare all the stats, but it comes down to a gut feeling over who gives your team the best chance to win,” Clawson said. “This was a very, very hard decision.
“It’s not that Matt hasn’t played well; it’s that Trent Hurley got so good so quickly. Trent made a huge jump from spring to fall camp.”
Clawson said there weren't be designed shuffling of the QBs during the game.
“We’re not going into the game planning to play two [quarterbacks]," he said. "We’re anticipating [playing two] because history will tell you [that you will need to].”
Three seniors are listed as the starters at receiver: Kamar Jorden is the starter at the "X" position, Adrian Hodges will start at the "Z" and Eugene Cooper will start at the "slot" position.
“At receiver, we feel good about the depth we have there,” Clawson said. “We have six or seven playing at a [high] level."
At tailback sophomore Jordan Hopgood is listed as the starter, followed by true freshman Anthon Samuel, junior John Pettigrew and redshirt freshman Jamel Martin.
“The tailback battle is still playing out," Clawson said. "We have four guys listed, and Erique Geiger [who is fifth on the list] is a pretty good player.”
The starters on the offensive line also were expected: senior Ben Bojicic at center, sophomore Dominic Flewellyn at right guard and junior Jordon Roussos at right tackle with junior Chip Robinson starting at left guard and sophomore Kyle Bryant at left tackle.
Sophomore Alex Bayer is expected to start at tight end.
On the defensive line junior Chris Jones will start at tackle and sophomore Ted Ouellet will start at the nose. The ends will be senior Kevin Moore and sophomore Ronnie Goble.
It was no surprise that junior Dwayne Woods and sophomore Paul Swan will start at linebacker. The surprise was that Clawson considered redshirt freshmen Gabe Martin and D.J. Lynch co-starters.
“We have four linebackers playing at a very high level,” Clawson said. “Dwayne Woods and Paul Swan are the starters, but D.J. Lynch and Gabe Martin will play. In our minds, we have four starting linebackers.”
Sophomore Jerry "Boo Boo" Gates is listed as the starter at rover over senior Keith Morgan, while the starters at cornerback are expected to be sophomore Cameron Truss and redshirt freshman Devon McKoy. Senior Jovan Leacock and redshirt freshman Ryland Ware are listed as co-starters at the "stud" safety, while sophomore Aaron Foster will start at the "whip" safety.
Sophomore Kyle Burkhardt will handle the field goals and PATs, while junior Brian Schmiedebusch will do the punting and junior Jerry Phillips will handle kickoffs.
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