The final leg. There’s only 30 days until Sun Belt football kicks off. That means every team in the league is opening up a critical fall camp in preparation for the new season.
Here’s what to watch for from the quarterback position, plus read down for a special announcement about the forthcoming digital magazine.
Quarterback battles
A couple of teams solved their quarterback situation already across the spring and summer. South Alabama landed on Jake Bentley over Desmond Trotter and Georgia Southern is bought in on Justin Tomlin. Appalachian State is replacing a starter but never really had another route outside of Chase Brice.
There are still multiple battles ahead that will rage through August.
Texas State
Brady McBride and Tyler Vitt are joined by North Carolina State transfer Ty Evans for a three-man race for the starting spot in the season-opener against Baylor.
McBride was the arm-of-choice over Vitt last season, but Evans presents an intriguing wild card. He’s also not the only Power Five quarterback who could usurp a starting role in the Sun Belt.
Troy
A four-man battle has dwindled to the expected two and the last few weeks of this race have arrived. Incumbent starter Gunnar Watson and Missouri transfer Taylor Powell have been neck-and-neck since the spring. Powell just returned from a trip to the Manning Passing Academy while Watson returns with experience under the system.
Louisiana-Monroe
Colby Suits and Jeremy Hunt split time last season but the new staff brought in a new option. Rhett Rodriguez, son of associate head coach Rich Rodriguez, is joining the fray and is our leader for the Warhawks’ starting QB job.
Arkansas State
Want to get weird? Layne Hatcher is likely going to take the first snap of the season but he can’t coast through the next month. Butch Jones revitalized the QB position in Jonesboro and that includes former Florida State starter James Blackman. The former Seminole didn’t choose the Red Wolves to watch from the sidelines, so don’t be surprised if he forces his way into some playing time.
SBP Magazine
We have been hard at work on our preview and are nearly at the finish line. Close enough to announce an August 19 release day. That will give us time to polish it a bit with enough time afterwards for you to dive in before the season begins. Our planned price point is going to be $10.
As of this writing I’ve got seven teams wrapped up and by the end of the night I’ll be at eight with Texas State filed away to Thomas.
So go ahead and mark your calendars.
Thanks for reading, as always. I’m going to walk my dog.