Dantonio Says He Will Reveal Staring QB _ Later
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio says he cannot reveal which of the four quarterbacks competing for the Spartans' starting job will take the first snap in the opener.
Dantonio says he "can't let the cat out of the bag" before telling the winning candidate he has won the job.
Senior Andrew Maxwell held the starting role all of last season, completing 53 percent of his passes for 2,606 yards and 13 touchdowns to nine interceptions. Dantonio then declared an open competition at the position prior to the start of fall camp, referring to it as a four-way race as recently as Monday.
Sophomore Connor Cook, redshirt freshman Tyler O'Connor and Damion Terry are in the mix as well and Dantonio spoke highly of Terry coming off a standout scrimmage performance Saturday.
Thursday, however, Dantonio said he still has a ways to go.
"He's a freshman, so he makes plays and then takes a step back," Dantonio said. "We just keep working him and see how it goes. This is summer camp, we've got four quarterbacks, as I've said, and he put himself in that race last Saturday. Consistency is the most important thing and we'll continue to see if he has that or not, but we're not gonna play a guy if he's not ready. I don't think we should do that."
Maxwell served as team captain in 2012 and could still win the starting job this fall, but he was not voted as a captain. MSU announced its 2013 captains are senior linebacker Max Bullough, senior cornerback Darqueze Dennard and senior offensive lineman Blake Treadwell.
"Andrew was a captain last year, this year Blake became a captain," Dantonio said. "It's not so much what Andrew didn't do, it's what Blake Treadwell did do. When you vote as a team, it's just going to come out. We got to wait and look at it and let the players speak."
The Spartans announced captains following practice Wednesday night and all three players addressed the team shortly after the results were unveiled.
"My heart kind of dropped a little bit," Treadwell said. "I had to fight back some tears, not show anybody. So I was very excited."
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