Paul Rhoads to Have Starting QB Shortly After Camp

ISU football’s fall camp will come to close after a scrimmage this Saturday, and the head coach announced that a decision on who will be the starting quarterback will not be made at that time. However, the team will decide by the time they get “into Tulsa preparations.”

According to the Iowa State Daily, Paul Rhoads would like to name either Steele Jantz or Jared Barnett the starter by next week before having a gameplan in the opener against Tulsa. The reason for not announcing the decision at that time is due to “not (having) enough knowledge of the scrimmage.”

A third quarterback is competing for the job as well, but redshirt freshman Sam Richardson is reportedly far behind the other two players from last season.

This comes after tossing around when Rhoads would announce the starter earlier this month. It wouldn’t happen before a full set of scrimmages, but it sounds like it will happen earlier than at the end of the month.

There’s no threat of a dual-quarterback rotation. Rhoads has stated that he will “pick one of them to start and leave them atop the depth chart,” according to an AP article.

Last year turned into a split season for both Jantz and Barnett. Jantz, a JUCO transfer from City College of San Francisco last season, started out with two thrilling victories against in-state opposition Northern Iowa and Iowa. Interceptions became a huge factor when starting the game against Connecticut, and injuries ultimately led to his benching during the homecoming game against Texas A&M.

Redshirt sophomore Barnett led the team to three victories, two against top 25 teams (Texas Tech and Oklahoma State). But the majority of those wins were based on Iowa State’s running attack and not Barnett’s arm. After getting beat around in the Pinstripe Bowl against Rutgers, Jantz was given the keys to the offense in the second half. Ultimately, the Cyclones lost 27-13.

Brian Spaen is the lead editor for Clones Confidential, follow the site on Twitter and Facebook. Read his other work on the Oregon Ducks blog, Autzen Zoo, and Watson Talk Lacrosse.