Starting QB yet to be determined, says coach

LAS CRUCES — It’s the question on every mind that follows New Mexico State football closely.

Who is the Aggies quarterback?

With two weeks until the season opener against Wyoming and two weeks through fall camp, the competition remains open.

“Early on, it was all up and down but it’s kind of settled down,” said Aggies head coach Doug Martin. “The completion percentage has been about the same for all of them for the whole camp and they’ve done a good job taking care of the ball so it’s going to be the guy is going to make the most plays and I think we’ve seen some strides in finding that guy the past couple of days.”

While it’s possible that Martin has his mind made up as to who will lead the NMSU offense onto the field first Aug. 25, either redshirt senior Nick Jeanty or junior college transfer Matt Romero, or perhaps even redshirt freshman Josh Adkins, who has come on in the past two weeks, will be able to play through early mistakes depending on how the game plays out against a quality Wyoming defense on national television.

The leash won’t be that short, Martin said.

“I’ve never believed in doing that to a quarterback,” Martin said. “The only way I would, would be if he was really struggling and needed a break and a we do have that ability to bring a guy in and settle the starter down and bring him back. Sometimes you need that if you have a new starter or a young starter.”

Romero has progressed well as his knowledge of the playbook has expanded. Romero gave himself an opportunity for the job by playing well in spring practice after really just showing up on campus and hitting the practice field.

“[Romero] understands the system a lot better now and he’s starting to find the throws that we want and get in a rhythm and a timing plus having that ability to create things,” Martin said. “When you have a guy who can create, it makes everyone better.”

Martin and quarterbacks coach Chase Holbrook both like Romero’s mobility and arm strength. Reading the defense at the line of scrimmage is the next challenge for all of the quarterbacks.

“It takes years for guys to get comfortable enough back there and essentially audible and get us into good plays, but more importantly, get us out of bad plays,” Holbrook said.

Jeanty has been in quarterback position battles before at NM State, but he has enjoyed his best fall camp of his career.

Jeanty has improved in some areas, most notably pushing the ball down the field more often as the NM State passing game needs to convert an occasional pass down the field to open the field up for the Aggies slot receivers and short passing game.

“To play that position, you have to be able to do those things and also make plays,” Martin said. “I think [Jeanty] has gotten better at that. He’s always had good leadership abilities and he’s really smart.”