San Jose State names Blake Jurich starting quarterback, well kind of

The second scrimmage in fall camp was to be the big one where San Jose State head coach Ron Caragher was to name his starting quarterback, and he sort of did so. The race to replace David Fales has been between Blake Jurich and Joe Gray.

After the scrimmage, Caragher said that Jurich would get the majority of the snaps if there was a game tomorrow, but also said that Gray would also see time on the field. There is still more evaluation time as the Spartans are just over a week away before they open the season against North Dakota.

Heading into fall camp it looked as if Gray had the leg up on earn the starting job after his strong performance in the spring, but Jurich was able to reverse that role and just barely move ahead to the No. 1 spot thus far in fall camp. Jurich had slowly started to earn more first-team reps leading up to the scrimmage.

Both players played even after the most recent scrimmage with Gray completing 11 of 17 for 123 yards and Jurich throwing 11 of 19 for 130 yards, both players also threw a touchdown pass.

The one benefit that Jurich has over Gray is actual on the field playing time at the FBS level, however Jurich was used more as a chance of pace and running quarterback rather than a passer. Jurich has attempted only 20 passes while completing just nine with a touchdown and a pair of interceptions; whereas, he has ran for 174 yards and three scores.

A decision on one full-time starter should be made heading into the season because playing two quarterbacks rarely works, even if there is a starter who will be getting the majority of the reps in one game. For continuity purposes with the rest of the team going with one quarterback is the way to go, and coach Caragher should make a decision before the season begins so that the possibility of a two-quarterback system does not bleed into the season.