Chance Lovertich Finds Success in Bulldog Debut
South Alabama transfer quarterback Chance Lovertich made his Mississippi State debut Saturday, entering the Vanderbilt game in the fourth quarter in relief of Will Rogers after the Bulldogs had put up a substantial lead.
In what little we saw of Lovertich, he showed poise, mobility and accuracy, completing 5-of-6 passes for 77 yards with one touchdown, also carrying the ball once for seven yards in garbage time.
Lovertich's single touchdown pass was a 28-yarder to wide receiver Rara Thomas, marking the first touchdown for both players as Bulldogs.
Earlier this year in fall camp, Lovertich competed with Rogers for the starting job and the two ended off several practices with a similar stat line. In the end, it was Rogers who won the battle of who looked to be the most consistent, but there's no doubt that Lovertich impressed as he climbed up the ranks from a player who many thought would be QB3 at best on the MSU roster.
Leach spoke to the abilities Lovertich brings to the table back in the summer -- all of which were on display in his outing against the Commodores.
"Chance has a good release, he gets the ball out really quick. He can move in the pocket well and throw well on the move too," Leach told me in July. "Jack (Abraham) is sharp, methodical, controlled. He controls the huddle really well. Chance is more of a fired up guy. When he gets in there, he's so excited that it rubs off on the others. Chance's best games are ahead of him."
Both Lovertich and Southern Miss transfer Jack Abraham, who has been away from the team for undisclosed reasons, shone in the spring. Like many other successful signal-callers, Lovertich spends a lot of time in the film room bettering himself and has been dedicated to learning the offense since the day he arrived on campus.
"(Chance) is a real student of the game, he studies it a bunch," Leach said.
Quarterbacks in general are students of the game, you go down the hall and they'll be in the room we have set up for film and they'll be consistently watching it and asking questions. Part of that has to do with the nature of the position because there comes a point where it's pretty much on them to either know it or not. It's one thing if you're the guard and you ask the center, 'hey, which direction do I go?' But a quarterback doesn't exactly get to do that."
It will be interesting to see what the future holds for the 5-foot-11, 190-pound senior from Brandon, Mississippi and how much more we'll see him get on the field at MSU.
