Blake Joseph named starting quarterback
8/28/2009 2:00:00 AM | Football
Joseph (6-foot-1, 215 pounds), a transfer from University of Houston, had been battling Bryan Randolph for the starting nod. Last season Randolph served as the backup to Rhett Bomar, who was a fifth round draft pick this past April by the New York Giants.
"We think he is a real talent," Whitten said. "He has great feet and a strong arm and he moves around well. He is going to be able to extend some plays with his feet and we will be able to have some designed runs for him."
Joseph officially joined the team for fall camp in August, so he is still learning the offense, which Whitten said is now a focus to get him completely up to speed.
"The hard part is we have had him for about 20 workouts," Whitten said. "We are going to up his reps and figure out what he can do. He is just going to have to get more comfortable with the language and terminology."
For his career at Houston, Joseph completed 120-of-184 passes for 1,581 yards and had 10 touchdowns. His best season under center was 2007 when he made five starts, passing for 1,324 yards and nine touchdowns. His best game that season was a 318-yard effort against Rice where he threw for three touchdowns.
Joseph is a 2005 graduate of Bryan High School where he was First-Team All-District as a senior as well as a First-Team All-Brazos Valley. He has one year of eligibility remaining.
The Bearkats will open the season on Thursday, Sept. 3 at home against Western Illinois with a 6 p.m. start. The game will be televised live in Houston on KTBU, Channel 55, The Tube.
