Lindquist will start in UW opener
Suspended Miles could be back at QB for EWU game
SEATTLE – Washington’s quarterback competition has been settled.
For now, anyway.
Jeff Lindquist, a third-year sophomore from Mercer Island, Washington, will start the Huskies’ Aug. 30 season opener at Hawaii, coach Chris Petersen announced during his Friday media session.
Lindquist, who appeared in three games in 2013 in ultra mop-up duty, beat out redshirt freshman Troy Williams for the starting nod. Third-year sophomore Cyler Miles, the Huskies’ most experienced quarterback, is suspended for the Hawaii game.
Some have anticipated that Miles might end up the starting quarterback in Week 2 for UW’s Sept. 6 home opener against Eastern Washington. But Petersen will wait until after the Hawaii game to re-evaluate his personnel.
For now, Lindquist is the guy.
“This is that fine line that we spoke about probably weeks and months ago that hey, Jeff’s going to go, and he’s going to get a good opportunity to go,” Petersen said. “We don’t want anybody looking over their shoulder, but a guy’s got to go produce. After this game, after the first game, we’ll kind of re-evaluate and see where we are, and go from there, and they all know that.”
Through 15 spring practices and three weeks of fall camp, Lindquist emerged as the Huskies’ most responsible decision-maker. Eliminating turnovers is one of Petersen’s biggest priorities for his batch of young quarterbacks, and he said Lindquist best accomplished that.
Notes
Petersen said junior receiver Jaydon Mickens will start as the team’s punt returner, while sophomore receiver John Ross will get first crack at returning kickoffs.