Rhoads on ISU QBs: 'I don't know who will be the starter'

 By Rob Gray

 Correspondent

 AMES - According to Iowa State's recently-released depth chart, redshirt freshman quarterback Grant Rohach is poised to make his first career start Saturday at 11 a.m. against TCU.

According to Cyclone coach Paul Rhoads, the ink hasn't exactly dried regarding that often tenuous decision.

“I don't know who will be the starter,” Rhoads said Monday.

Confused?

Rohach isn't.

“Being in the program for two years already, I kind of know how it goes with quarterbacks,” said Rohach, who hopes to lead the Cyclones (1-7, 0-5) to their first conference win of the season against the Horned Frogs (3-6, 1-5) at Jack Trice Stadium. “So it's nothing new. There's nothing I can do about it. All I can do is just go out there and play hard every week.”

Both Rohach and Richardson - a sophomore who's started 10 straight games despite battling myriad injuries this season - need to play better for ISU's offense to find anything beyond meager success.

The usual three commandments apply:

Wise decisions.

Accurate throws, released on time.

Finished drives.

“The basics,” said Rohach, who has relieved a hobbled and/or inconsistent Richardson in each of the past three losses. “Getting us into the right play call, making the right choices. We're clearly a young quarterback group, but we need to mature at a lot faster rate. I know Sam's very mature, even for how young he is. Learning from him and (offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham) is something we just need to continually keep doing.”

That and competing.

For Cyclone quarterbacks, the starting job's been up for grabs more often than not in recent years.

“There's been a quarterback controversy at Iowa State?” fifth-year senior running back Jeff Woody deadpanned.

Yes, there has- and is, apparently.

“Whether it's (Jerome) Tiller and (Steele) Jantz, Jantz and (Jared) Barnett, Barnett and Richardson, (Austen) Arnaud and Tiller - pick the year,” Woody said. “You can kind of get a feel for who's playing well, who's executing right and who's putting balls on the money.”

Who can do that best this week in practice gets the reigns to the offense.

Rhoads has established a timetable for resolving the issue.

“And I won't be sharing it with you,” Rhoads said.

He later forcefully elaborated on why.

“TCU's got to figure it out, too,” Rhoads said of the team his Cyclones could tie for eighth in the league standings if they forge an upset win. “That's the fun of this game. There's a little strategy involved in it. Isn't that neat?”

So maybe there's not a “controversy” after all.

Maybe there is.

Richardson's completed 55.3 percent of his passes for 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Rohach's completion rate has dipped to 51.7 percent and and he's thrown for two touchdowns and three picks.

“These guys are very similar,” Woody said.

And they're used to the mercurial nature of playing quarterback at ISU.

Produce abundantly, there's no competition.

Produce sporadically, there's no clear-cut choice.

“They know their role is vital to success for the football team and they both realize that their play is measured by everybody - certainly the coaching staff and their teammates,” Rhoads said. “And they look forward to playing better.”

INJURY UPDATE: Rhoads said he's “very hopeful” offensive tackle Jacob Gannon can return this week from an MCL injury. Gannon, a former Iowa City West star, missed the past three games and it's shown. “There's a level of toughness that cones along with being a junior and having four falls at the offensive line and Jacob brings that to our team,” Rhoads said.