Welch, Randolph ready to step up at QB
3/26/2009 1:00:00 AM | Football
Assistant Sports Editor, Huntsville Item
There is no doubt as to what the big question is as Sam Houston State opened spring football practice Wednesday afternoon at Bowers Stadium.
Who is going to replace All-Southland Conference quarterback Rhett Bomar? Bearkat fans have been wondering about this for months.
Right now, it is a wide-open competition between junior Bryan Randolph and sophomore Jeff Welch. Both of the quarterbacks rotated series Wednesday as the Bearkats went through position drills and even threw in a little 7-on-7 work before wrapping up practice.
“We are going to go with everybody right now,” SHSU head coach Todd Whitten said Wednesday. “Bryan Randolph and Jeff Welch are going to split time through the spring. It could be later in the spring that if one guy pulls ahead we will let him get more reps with the (first team). We are going to let those two guys battle it out and see who comes out on top.
“For the first day, I thought there was some good and some bad, but the effort was good. We just have to get back into the mode of getting focused for every snap.”
Randolph was Bomar's backup last season after transferring from Simi Valley College in California, where he threw for 1,733 yards as a freshman. Last season, Randolph played in four games and completed 3-of-9 passes for 17 yards.
During 7-on-7 drills Wednesday, he hit running back Matthew Powledge for a couple of big plays, but he did have some errant passes, including a ball that was intercepted by linebacker Will Henry.
“We both get a chance to compete,” Randolph said. “It was a typical first day of spring practice. Offensively we played pretty well, but we did have some penalties and some personnel issues.
“But Jeff and I are going to battle. He has respect for me and I have respect for him. It's the best man wins. You want to have the best player on the field.”
Welch redshirted in 2007 as a freshman out of Cy Falls High School where he was a first-team all-region and All-District 17-5A quarterback. He threw for 2,912 yards and 18 touchdowns and ran for 784 yards as a senior in leading the Golden Eagles to the Division II state finals.
Welch appeared in two games last season and completed his only two passing attempts for eight yards. He looked a lot more comfortable Wednesday than he did last spring and threw the ball with a tighter spiral. He hit wide receivers Darrell Armstead on a deep route for a score and Kevin Matthews in the flat down the left sideline for another long touchdown in 7-on-7.
“It was a little rough the first couple of years, but I'm getting it down,” Welch said. “The best thing you can do is get repetitions. I was working hard in the offseason. We came out here and did 7-on-7 starting in January on every Monday and Wednesday. I think that helped out both of us, throwing.”
Randolph and Welch have the next month and the Orange-White spring game to get a leg up in the race to become the Bearkats' starting quarterback.
Spring notes and quotes
Utilizing talent ? The Bearkats are going to have a crowded backfield next year with the past two seasons' leading rushers back. Chris Poullard, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards in 2007, returns after redshirting in '08, and James Aston is back after piling up 1,407 all-purpose yards last season.
So, the Sam Houston State coaching staff decided to move speedy running back TyMagic Robinson to cornerback this spring and are going to look at him as a kick returner.
“It's an experiment for us,” Whitten said. “When you have really good athletes like (Robinson) is and are loaded in the backfield, it is painful as a coach to see him standing over there by you. We are going to try to incorporate him. It may or may not work, and if it doesn't, we will move him back to the backfield.
“As a coaching staff, we immediately evaluate things kind of like we did D.D. Terry a couple of years ago. Every time we turned around he was over there watching the game. You have to find a way to get guys like that in. This may work out. We will have to wait and see.”
