Fresno State football: Chason Virgil named starter; team captain

Fresno State announced its starting quarterback will be redshirt freshman Chason Virgil, head coach Tim DeRuyter announced Thursday night.

DeRuyter jokingly dragged out the announcement with the crew from ESPN 940, which included former Bulldogs head coach Pat Hill.

“We had tremendous competition with four quarterbacks and three guys who were brand new coming in and really jumped in with two feet and really pushed Chason Virgil,” DeRuyter said. “Virgil has been here and went through spring in the system and had a leg up, but he was not satisfied and didn’t just show up but he earned it and will be our starting quarterback.”

Virgil was battling since spring camp with Kiilton Anderson, Ford Childress, and Zack Greenlee. Greenlee transferred to UTEP and Childress is no longer on the roster for the Bulldogs.

Fresno State had a late comer join the quarterback race in Cal transfer Zach Kline — plus many other schools for the former four-star recruit.

Virgil has been thought to be the leader but he did not do enough to distance himself from the others during spring.

Last year, Virgil played in just three games after suffering a season-ending injury against Utah with a broken clavicle was showing promise. In that limited time he completed 31 of 56 passes for 298 yards and threw three touchdowns to go along with three interceptions.

In addition to naming Virgil the starter, the redshirt freshman was voted to be a team captain.

Fresno State opens up the season on the road against Nebraska on Sept. 3.

Here is DeRuyter making the announcement.