NDSU's lineage of quarterbacking rivals any college in the country on any of the levels for both longevity & quality. Starting with Brock Jensen in the Division 1 era it was taken to another level, through Trey Lance's brief time as the slinger. Since that one+ season it has been a challenge to find one to take the baton & continue performing up to the level of the previous champions.
This season it will once again be Cam Miller & Cole Payton as the primary (& probably exclusive) ones to take the snaps. They have both proven their effectiveness as stressers to the opposing defense when called upon or given the chance to tuck the ball & run with it. But even in football of the 2023 vintage, quarterbacks running with the ball is a secondary function of the position. If one can't throw with efficiency & explosiveness then the ultimate goal will not be achieved.
And that is what this series of posts will focus on, how the quarterbacks handle the primary responsibility of the position on a game by game basis.
An ineffective first half, that still saw the Bison go ahead 16 - 0, left that much less time for Cam Miller to put the season opening performance on repeat but he was two or three drops from posting a 250 yard day so the 152 & O TDs is deceiving. Even when he put the headset on for good the production continued, with Cole Payton making some hay out of his still minute opportunity.
The game developed into an old-fashion Bison trampling but with the signs of progress by both quarterbacks today and through the young season their remains optimism that in a heavyweight showdown where the rushing attack & defense aren't able to make it a 98% winner, they may be more up to the task than they were even in last seasons championship. The most measurable takeaway to that end from today's victory is that the tandem completed tosses to nine of their teammates, with Braylon Henderson & Carson Williams also getting chances to catch.
Given the track-record, seven, nine or eleven is an unlikely number to have on a week by week basis. The fact that the coaches and the slingers already feel comfortable enough with that many different guys means that the injury bug almost can't bite hard enough to dry-up the well. Considering how last season ended, that is a welcome revelation!
Zach Mathis is clearly the top option but two weeks worth of guys behind him who are ready & able to answer the bell is football music.
While the point of this is to talk about the ones who take the snaps, quarterbacks need the playmakers to hold up their end or even the greatest ones would be backyard shlubbs. Through two games both parts of the equation have been sufficient and at times, even better.
One more performance like the ones that we have already gotten and it will be a full-fledged trend in the right direction!
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