QBs still deadlocked at ISU

AMES - When a second straight preseason of competing for Iowa State's starting quarterback job begins to wear on Steele Jantz, he uses perspective to ease the tension.

“I realize just how fortunate all of us are to be out here,” said Jantz, who remained utterly even with Jared Barnett after Wednesday's scrimmage. “Coach (Paul) Rhoads talks and he had this guy come in and talk to us and it's just - when you think about it, we're all these young guys and we get to play football every day. When you think about it that way it doesn't seem so bad, comparatively. I just try to do that.”

Rhoads said Jantz and Barnett have each shined in different ways on different days throughout fall camp.

Hence no separation - and a dead heat that likely will extend through Saturday's last scrimmage and at least a couple of days toward the Sept. 1 season opener against Tulsa.

“I won't name it on that Saturday, because I'll come off the field and not have enough knowledge of the scrimmage, just like today,” Rhoads said. “But it will need to be pretty close to that. That Tuesday (Aug. 21), after the first day of classes when we start going into Tulsa preparations - not wholesale, but into Tulsa preparations, we'll like to have a pretty good idea who's going to be taking the first snap.”

Jantz and Barnett starred in stirring wins last season.

Jantz, a senior, helped deliver come-from-behind wins over Northern Iowa, Iowa and Connecticut before a foot injury hampered his performance. Barnett, a sophomore, threw for a career-best 376 yards and three touchdowns in the ESPY-nominated comeback win over then-No. 2 Oklahoma State.

But consistency remains elusive for the similarly-skilled players.

“They did a lot of the same things,” Rhoads said about Wednesday's scrimmage. “Drove quite a bit of the field and ended up with field goals. They drove down in the red zone and scored. ... So (offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham) will put them under the microscope and see what the grades show and the decisions that were made and so worth and continue to add to the tally, so to speak, of where we're at.”

Barnett said he and Jantz are progressing well.

“We're just going to keep battling,” he said.

Messingham noted at least one area that needs collective improvement.

“If on first down you don't have a positive play, you've got to put yourself in third and medium,” he said. “If you're in third and medium, you can manage it. You can get third downs and have opportunities to throw touchdowns.”

Barnett echoed that sentiment.

“Second and long, third and long,” he said. “We need to make sure we can get out of those.”

Another battle

While the quarterbacks draw the most scrutiny, ISU's place-kickers are also embroiled in a heated competition. Freshman Cole Netten and walk-on junior Edwin Arceo are dead even, Rhoads said.

“Accuracy has been good,” Rhoads said. “We have the luxury of Cole Netten being a true freshman and having a red-shirt season available and Edwin having two years to play.”

Watson waiting

Cornerback Jansen Watson hasn't practiced since injuring a shoulder in Saturday's scrimmage, Rhoads said.

“Nothing dramatic,” he said. “More a safeguard than anything else.”