If you could sum up the Portland State quarterback play this season, one word is all that you would need: inconsistent.
Last season, the Vikings shuffled through four different quarterbacks on their way to a 3-8 record.
Tygue Howland and Brian White, the two who battled for the top spot throughout the offseason, both went down to injuries, giving way to freshman Drew Hubel.
Hubel had moments of brilliance, but he too caught the injury bug, and Jimmy Collins finished the season as the starter and led the team to a victory at Northern Colorado.
After Howland earned the starting role this fall but struggled in the season opener against Division II Western Oregon, Hubel has primarily been the team’s No. 1 gunslinger.
But terribly inconsistent play has plagued both quarterbacks as they have shared time in the majority of the team’s eight contests this season.
On Saturday in Ogden, Utah, the Vikings deployed four quarterbacks all with varying degrees of success. Hubel and Howland competed throughout the first half to see who the more ineffective quarterback was.
During their first 10 possessions the Vikings punted four times, missed a field goal, attempted a failed fake punt, fumbled once and–the killer–threw three interceptions.
The result was a 31-0 hole with 14 minutes to play in the third quarter, a lead insurmountable for nearly any team and especially so for this immature and unstable squad.
Eventually the Vikings would get on the board and make the score respectable behind scoring drives from Hubel, Collins and fourth-string redshirt freshman quarterback Connor Kavanaugh.
In the Weber State press box, the statisticians were having a tough time keeping all the quarterbacks straight.
And they weren’t the only ones who were suffering. On the field, Vikings receivers struggled to adjust to the different styles of quarterbacking.
More often than not, the receivers or quarterbacks were not on the same page, and even when the Vikings executed the play perfectly, receivers had a difficult time hanging on to the football.
I have a hard time blaming offensive coordinator and quarterback coach Mouse Davis for playing musical chairs.
But with three games left on the schedule and any chance for a Big Sky Championship evaporated after the Vikings’ three conference road losses, the most important priority for Portland State is not beating Montana this week or even trying to win out, which would give the team a respectable 5-6 record.
No, priority No. 1 is finding a leader at quarterback.
If Davis and head coach Jerry Glanville have learned anything this year, it should be that not having an established leader at quarterback can be extremely detrimental to a team’s success.
We know this team has leaders. Defensively, senior linebacker Andy Schantz makes most of the plays he is asked on the field and leads the team off it. Offensively, the Vikings have several lunch-pail examples in fullback Bobby McClintock, receiver Aaron Woods and offensive lineman Moses Punzal.
But in football there is one position that you absolutely have to have leadership from: the quarterback. That leadership will not come with inconsistent play and a constant shuffling of new faces under center. Neither Howland nor Hubel–likely the only two real choices for quarterback next season–has established himself as “the guy.”
When one of them has played inconsistently and Davis has sought relief, the other has failed to take advantage of the opportunity.
Look around the college and professional football scene, the top tier of teams at every level is made up of squads that have one quarterback that performs consistently.
Instead of creating competition and giving the defense a new look, the constant quarterback shuffle seems like it has both Howland and Hubel into playing nervously and forcing throws into tight spaces.
Worse yet, the uncertainty and failures at the most important position in the run-and-shoot offense has cost the Vikings games. Occasionally the Vikings have played well enough to win on defense, like on Saturday at Weber State, only to see the Vikings essentially give multiple scores away.
Glanville and his troops may be focusing on finding a way to get a victory this week, but if this team is going to continue progressing into the Big Sky contender that fans hope they will be for years to come, the most valuable thing that the Vikings can do is find a quarterback that can lead them consistently next season.