Carrying the Quarterback Competition Forward Spartan Nation Wins with Nichol or Cousins

Until football’s next major revolution, only one Quarterback can play at a time. Sophomores Keith Nichol and Kirk Cousins know that. They’ve known that

Until football’s next major revolution, only one Quarterback can play at a time. Sophomores Keith Nichol and Kirk Cousins know that. They’ve known that for as long as they’ve played the position, and well before their competition formally began at the start of the off-season. Though it’s not a final decision, but rather an initial starting point, it will present a real fork in the road for Spartan football.

Both young men have put in thousands of hours to get to this point in their careers. And both appear to have given a commendable Spartan effort both on and off the field as this pre-season comes to an end. But as is often the case, the end is also going to be a new beginning. And no one can be sure how either player will react to the elation of being named starter or the disappointment of coming up just short.

While the immediate decision will be for the Montana St. game only, as Coach D recently explained, it’s still a decision that will set a tone and carry an impact forward. How both young men deal with it from there will have a deciding impact on the Spartans 2009 season. Both players will be needed for MSU to have its best season in a decade. And both still have 36 games left in their MSU career, 39 if you include three more bowl games. While a lot can happen in one football game, so much can happen in 30 plus contests. Therefore, both of these QBs will be counted on during the duration of their careers for the program to compete for and win championships.

This is not the first time Michigan State has carried a QB competition into a season, though the ‘09 version has probably been the tightest and enjoyed the biggest build up as a season approached. Some past competitions at MSU have been handled well, and some not quite as well. Looking back at a couple of them, we can learn some of the lessons Keith and Kirk will need apply forward to make this a successful transition.

Long on Character, but Short on Luck

Coming into the 1998 season, the Spartan Nation welcomed a much-heralded Fr. QB Ryan Van Dyke, from nearby Marshall, Michigan. During the previous High School seasons in Michigan, Van Dyke and future Wolverine Drew Henson battled back and forth for accolades. Nationally, Henson was regarded as one of the top prospects in both football and baseball. Regionally, coaches in the Big Ten states were somewhat divided on which player would end up the more successful signal caller at the next level. But both were expected to star in the conference one day. 

When Van Dyke arrived, Michigan State had a talented but injury riddled Jr. QB from Ohio, Bill Burke. While Burke was favored to lead the Spartans in ’98, there was a real chance that Van Dyke would play early, and could emerge the starter by year’s end. The first game of ’98 found the Spartans hosting Colorado St. in Spartan Stadium, and an offense sputtering towards the finish. Nick Saban inserted Ryan Van Dyke into the game late with hopes of energizing the Spartan offense. While it did not work that day, Van Dyke’s future looked immediately promising. However, Burke would solidify his position as the starter throughout the up and down ’98 campaign, and position himself for an outstanding ’99 Senior season. (See the five part retrospective on 1999 if you haven’t yet)

After Burke capped off an outstanding Sr. season in ’99, the stage appeared cleared for Van Dyke to take over. But the shoe was about to land on the other foot for Van Dyke, as he was about to be challenged by highly touted incoming freshmen. Elite 11 Fr. QB Jeff Smoker came in as yet another “college ready” QB from Pennsylvania. It wouldn’t be long into the 2000 season before Smoker took over the starting reigns, and never really gave them back. The combination of Van Dyke’s injuries and Smoker’s unusual freshmen poise and accuracy meant Van Dyke would not end up the primary starter in his Junior season, and faced the possibility of ending up as a backup for his Senior year.

But both Kirk Cousins and Keith Nichol can learn a few things from Ryan Van Dyke. Through it all, he handled his evolving role in the program with a respectable level of maturity throughout his Spartan career. It still has to be disappointing to Van Dyke even today that his Spartan football career never really got on its intended track. It didn’t appear for a lack of effort, though he struggled with the size and speed of the Big Ten game. More than anything else, Van Dyke seemed to suffer from a mix of bad luck and bad timing. 

Yet, Van Dyke didn’t seem to divide the locker room. He didn’t turn into a team cancer. He could’ve easily gotten bitter, divisive, and short with teammates, coaches, and fans. He supported Jeff Smoker, Bill Burke, and whoever else would’ve taken snaps under center, admirably. That could not have been easy for a young man who came in expecting to lead the program back to the promise land, but could never seem to get a break while wearing the Green and White. His career arc at MSU had to be a humbling experience, and tough to take in such a public position. But Van Dyke’s ability to put the “team first” and accept whatever role he was given serves as a good model for Cousins and Nichol to carry forward into this new era of Spartan football. 

Steady Head Stanton

Coming into the 2003 season, MSU football was headed in a new direction. John L. Smith had arrived from Louisville to pick up the pieces of the imploded program Bobby Williams left behind. Perhaps the biggest decision facing Smith was whether to reinstate Sr. QB Jeff Smoker into the program or go with future starting QB RS Fr. Drew Stanton. In Smoker, Smith had a young man who had slipped from a legitimate All-American candidate to being suspended for substance abuse early into his junior year. There wasn’t much of a precedent in deciding whether to bring Smoker back, or to leave him in the past. 

Stanton had wanted to play QB for the Spartans from the time of his childhood. At the start of the ’03 season, he felt deserving of a shot to be the Spartans number one. After Smoker was brought back to start again, a letdown Stanton even considered transferring. But he decided to stay the Spartan course and let his opportunity eventually come to him (perhaps similar to his current NFL situation). Stanton handled Smith’s decision to start Smoker with all the poise and class the Spartan Nation could hope for from a young man in his position. 

Unlike QB Damon Dowdell, who cracked a bit under the strain and spoke out about deserving to start at the height of the ’02 Smoker led meltdown; Stanton didn’t speak out against Smith’s decision. He didn’t divide the locker room into camps, and he didn’t put his own interests in front of the teams’. As every member of the Spartan Nation knows, Stanton was so hungry to get on the field that he ended up taking a role in kick coverage, which cost him dearly as his knee was blown out covering a kick in the ’03 Alamo Bowl against Nebraska. The decision to put Stanton on kick coverage still holds up so foolishly today, it deserves a mention in this article. You’re telling me there wasn’t one Spartan capable to play that role out of the whole roster?

Stanton handled adversity in ’02 and ’03 pretty well, as he would all too often throughout his Spartan career which culminated in the bizarre ending of his helmet collapsing after taking a hit in the ’06 Minnesota game. Though Cousins and Nichol will not face the insanity and disorganization of the Smith era, they should take a maturity cue from Drew Stanton when handling whatever decision comes their way early this week, later this season, and throughout the rest of their careers.

Even heading into the ’04 season, the QB picture at MSU was as unclear as it had been in years. Three guys headed into the season hoping to be named the starter. Steven Reaves was a John L. Smith guy. Stanton and Dowdell weren’t. Stanton was facing early issues in his knee surgery recovery that left some wondering if he could return healthy enough to play a full season of snaps in the spread offense. Since Damon Dowdell was left over from one of the Bobby Williams recruiting classes, the new staff did not initially favor him either. 

Early into ’04, it seemed clear that Smith’s staff wanted Reaves to be their guy. In that process, the staff had collectively overlooked the many intangibles Stanton possessed that would later reveal Drew as the best Spartan Quarterback in recent memory. To the credit of Stanton and Dowdell, neither player seemed to make much negative noise about not being the starter. Yet, in the end, both would end up taking a significant number of snaps that year. And after the Notre Dame game of ’04, it became pretty clear the Reaves couldn’t play in the Big Ten, and had some troubles handling the spot light of being the starting QB at Michigan State off the field. 

It was finally clear to the staff that Drew Stanton had that “it” that would make him the face of the program, and its proud leader. Stanton’s steady approach would continue to navigate the unsteady waters he rode through during his time at MSU. Though 2004 was an odd season with incredible and severe turning points (think Stanton getting injured at Michigan while beating the Blue soundly), the Quarterbacks in the mix for the starting job did a fairly good job of staying grounded while keeping the team from breaking into factions, as had happened in the recent past. While some fear that Nichol and Cousins’ intense and close competition might lead to a strong and lingering hang over in the locker room, it clearly doesn’t have to be the case.

The New Chapter Begins

Nichol and Cousins arrive to this point from surprisingly similar backgrounds. Both Keith and Kirk come from sound west Michigan families, which have hopefully helped prepare them for the challenges ahead. Nichol seemed destined for the Green and White stardom for years. He had committed early to John L. Smith, and even after Smith’s firing, told Spartan fans they had nothing to worry about before taking a visit to Norman, Oklahoma to sit down with the Sooners. But Bob Stoops and Oklahoma were too good to turn down, and when Nichol changed his commitment, many Spartan fans felt betrayed by the seemingly sudden and rushed change of heart. However, after a year at Oklahoma, and being edged out in a close QB competition to eventual Heisman winner Sam Bradford, Nichol decided to come back home to Michigan State. Last year he learned the offense and ran the scout team in preparation for his remaining three years of eligibility in Green and White.

Kirk Cousins came to MSU a bit under the recruiting services radar, but not necessarily a lesser Big Ten QB prospect or fit for MSU. Had Cousins not been injured mid way through his High School career, his recruiting rankings would’ve likely been higher going into his Senior year, and the two west side gun slingers would’ve been closely compared a handful of years earlier. Cousins quickly earned the respect of his Spartan teammates by studying the offense diligently, and even preparing each week last season as if he were the starter. He also looked pretty sharp and confident during limited game action throughout last season.

Essentially, Nichol and Cousins could’ve been this close for quite some time. For example, while Cousins’ frame has filled out nicely the last two years under the guide of Spartan strength guru Ken Mannie, Nichol has also beefed up from the time of his transfer to match his noted mobility to a Big Ten durability. Unlike some Spartan signal callers of the past, both players appear to have the frame and build to take the physical pounding of the Big Ten. 

Keith Nichol and Kirk Cousins already know they are going to be forever linked by this Quarterback competition. They also know they will both get opportunities to play early in the season before a definitive starter for this year is named. No matter what happens from here, the two young men should largely be judged by how they handle their evolving roles throughout their Spartan careers. 

A balanced mix of poise, maturity, and humility has enabled Keith and Kirk to handle themselves impressively thus far. It’s been a refreshing approach for the Spartan Nation to follow. But the real challenges probably lie ahead. Their character will continue to be tested in a very public forum. They both must continue to put the team’s interests ahead of their own, and learn from Spartans of the past to handle the ebbs and flows of competing consistently to Quarterback at a major college football program. They should continue to compete with each other rather than against. And they must guard from either dividing the locker room into factions, or allowing such divisions to grow out on their own. There really is so much more to the success of this transition than what happens on the field itself.

There’s no guarantee what will happen in the future of this QB competition. But it appears a solid bet that both Spartans will continue to handle their competition well, and continue to make the Spartan Nation proud, whether starter or back up.

The career of Brian Hoyer was not discussed due to the fact that it was recent and we expected regular readers to know the details there. It was not a tumultuous hand over from Stanton to Hoyer and Brian did a great job.