There’s an old saying that follows, “If you have two quarterbacks, you have none.”
Currently, there are actually four quarterbacks fighting for Colorado State football’s starting spot, with two – Nick Stevens and Faton Bauta – leading the way.
Stevens understands better than anyone on the team, the second string quarterback is the most popular player in town. Last spring, when Stevens out-performed Coleman Key in the spring, then out-performed the backup in the fall camp as well, first-year head coach Mike Bobo named Stevens the starter.
Still, we saw Key come into five games, most of them early in the season, and it left some fans longing for the backup to replace Stevens. Key’s crucial moment came at the end of the game versus Minnesota, orchestrating a 55-yard drive to tie the game and take it to overtime. But, when Dalyn Dawkins fumbled and the Rams lost, so did Key lose his chance to become the starter.
Stevens continued on as the starting gun-slinger, struggling at times to progress through his reads and to put touch on some passes, though he improved overall in his play as the season came to a close. The redshirt junior was a major reason why CSU won four straight games to finish out the regular season 7-5 and wind up in a third straight bowl game.
But, in came the new kid on campus, Faton Bauta. Bauta’s a graduate student transfer, with one year of eligibility remaining, from the University of Georgia. He was originally recruited by Bobo and then brought to Fort Collins by the now-Rams head coach. The amount of film on Bauta is extremely limited, but he seems to possess a strong arm, a solid understanding of timing in an offense and is able to run when need be.
During these 15 spring practices – which include three scrimmages – Stevens and Bauta have a chance to showcase their talents, build relationships with their teammates and coaches, and ultimately begin to win the competition. In that first scrimmage, ironically, Bobo was most impressed with freshman Collin Hill, with Stevens coming in a close second. In last Saturday’s second scrimmage, though, Bauta enjoyed a three-touchdown, one-interception performance while Stevens was average (8-16, 130 yards, 1 TD). It all sets up for what could be a wildly contentious and fun Green and Gold game this Saturday at 1 p.m. MT inside Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium.
But, what do the players think of the competition? Without asking him directly who he wants to see start, we asked tight end Nolan Peralta how Stevens has improved since spring of last year and what Bauta brings to the team.
“I feel like Nick has gained a lot of trust from a lot of players on the team,” Peralta said. “When we’re in the huddle and we see Nick there, we know what we’re going to get. Faton is a new guy and we still have to become accustomed to his style of play and what he can bring to the table. But, as far as Nick, we know what we’re going to get. We know he can get the job done.
“Faton has shown a lot of skills himself that he could do the job as well. I’m glad I don’t have to make that decision as far as who’s going to start. Really, it’s about building that trust with Nick over the last year and Faton coming in and building that trust with the guys up front. ”
During his presser before spring practices began, Bobo said this:
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It seems like Stevens has taken the reins in that regard, as players are more familiar with his demeanor in the huddle. Bauta is ahead of Stevens when it comes to understanding the offense – learning it over four years – but he’s behind as far as creating relationships is concerned. But, one thing we learned quickly about Bauta, is he’s extremely confident in himself and winning the starting spot.
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“Faton, he’s athletic,” the senior tight end Peralta explained. “He’s able to break the pocket, not that Nick isn’t. But he’s definitely showing that he’s athletic and he’s able to get out of the pocket.
“He’s come in and try to be that guy in the locker room that everybody wants to look to,” Peralta said of Bauta’s stepping into a leadership position. “He’s trying to be in that leadership type role for everyone. That’s impressive for a guy that’s just coming in for one year. Guys typically take a couple years to get out of their shell. First day, he came in and was talking to everyone. Really trying to build those personal relationships with everyone that we can trust him when it comes time.”
As Bobo also said during that introductory spring ball presser, there’s a major need when it comes to finding leaders on his team. Bobo hopes Stevens and Bauta can assume those roles – which they seem to be doing well – while others like Peralta, and linebackers Kevin Davis and Josh Watson were also mentioned.
And, while the spring game will go a long way in determining the starting quarterback, Bobo also warned players should be “never satisfied” even if they are No. 1 on the depth chart. The head coach has preached competition at every position, and he means it. We’re seeing that play out all across the team, not just at quarterback.
(Read our exclusive interview with Nolan Peralta here.)
