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We're inside two weeks of the Elon University football team's season opener at Wake Forest University, and Phoenix head coach Rich Skrosky still isn't saying who will be the team's starting quarterback.
Redshirt freshman Connor Christiansen and true freshman Daniel Thompson have been competing since spring practice. Regardless of who it is, the starter will be taking his first college snaps on Sept. 3 in Winston-Salem.
Here's a transcript of what Skrosky said regarding the quarterbacks after Elon's third scrimmage of camp on Saturday.
On naming a QB right now:
“No. No. No. We’ve got to go in and watch the tape. It’s been a good camp, though. They’ve both grown a lot, I think, in a lot of areas. I think it’s going to be close. We might not do it after watching this tape. We’ll see though.”
On a timetable for naming one:
“Like I said, I don’t have a date on it. I’ve said that for a year now. Basically, I’m not going to rush into a wrong decision. Really no timetable.”
On the quarterback’s role in improving the offense:
“Quarterback’s always the most important component, whether you’re the best team in America or the worst team in America. I’ve said that from day one. That’s not hidden. The whole world knows that. They know that every day. Left guard misses a block, it’s the quarterback’s fault. That’s the expectation. And they have all that stuff. I don’t worry about any of their acumen or leadership. That stuff, they’re awesome, both those guys. They’re just young and they have to get a lot of experience.”
On what they need to improve on:
“Keep coming out and working every day. Until you finish playing, that’s what you do. You know Peyton Manning, 17 years, his goal is to get better. How much better are you going to get than Peyton Manning? But his goal is to get better every day. That’s what makes the great quarterbacks great. You know what I’m saying? So where do they go from here? Get better tomorrow. That ain’t going to end.”
On who’s ahead in the QB battle:
“Honestly, every day it’s kind of like. We keep every statistic. Every single thing is filmed, from when they throw routes on air and 7 on 7 to teamwork. If you asked me a few days ago, I probably would have said one guy. But if you ask me more recently, maybe I’m saying the other guy. So it’s really up in the air.”
On the interceptions thrown in the two-minute drill:
“Well, I’ll be honest. Working with the quarterbacks, as long as I have, I don’t have a great answer for, Nick Groll is 6-foot-6. He gets a big paw up and it wasn’t, he threw it to the right guy. Can you find a passing lane? All of a sudden that big guy puts his hand up in the air. To me, that was more about what the defense than what happened to Daniel.”