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Damn you Dan Enos.
The Central Michigan Chippewas head coach has made his decision on who will be his starting quarterback in Week 1, and it's not the wonderfully named Alex Niznak.
Central Michigan quarterback Cody Kater has been named the starter for the Aug. 31 game at the U-M by head coach Dan Enos. #CMU
— Nate Schneider (@natejschneider) August 21, 2013
I understand that Cody Kater is the more experienced quarterback (barely), and that you don't pick a field general based on something as meaningless as his name...unless you already have a starting running back named Zurlon Tipton at which point the only thing that matters is paring him up with an equally awesome named quarterback. "Niznak to Tipton" just sounds soooo nice.
Kater, a junior, beat out the dual-threat redshirt sophomore, and redshirt freshman Cooper Rush for the job. Kater doesn't have the strongest arm out of the three (that's Rush) nor is he as athletically talented as Niznak, but Enos has opted to turn to him as the heir-apparent to Ryan Radcliff anyway.
This might have been the closest quarterback battle in the MAC this fall, and for good reasons. Whoever earned the job was going to be expected to lead an offense with the potential to be one of the best in the MAC. That's no small task for anyone, let alone three players who have less than 5 combined pass attempts, all from Kater.
It should be noted, Kater was the favorite all along, and definitely performed well in camp. He's a very capable quarterback, and provides a nice balance of skills compared to Niznak and Rush, so Enos isn't picking him just because of his age.
Though Niznak didn't win the job it appears Chippewas' fans can expect to see him on the field this fall:
Coach Enos would not rule out putting some packages in to utilize Niznak's skill set.
— Nate Schneider (@natejschneider) August 21, 2013
This CMU offense just got that much more exciting.
Fans will get to see Kater, and possibly Niznak, take the Chippewas' reins in just 10 days. CMU opens its season on the road in The Big House against the No. 17 Michigan Wolverines.