U.N.I. comes into fall camp with two quarterbacks seeking the starting job. Coach Mark Farley says Zach Davis and Tirrell Rennie are each getting their chance to win the job.
Farley says they are splitting the time in practice 50-50 and he says it has been neat to watch the two in practice and he has been very pleased to watch them work. He says they won’t make a decision on a started until the week of the first football game.
Farley says he wants to give each of them plenty of time to show what they can do before picking a starter. He says it would not be fair to make a decision too early, and he says he would not be against having both of them play.
“Because of the talent that they both bring to the team, I think that they both are in those top echelon players that we need to have preparing our team to play in the game and yet get ready for the game, those guys will be leaders for us,” Farley says.
Davis is from Washington and has been a backup the last two years and says he’s not surprised that Rennie was signed as a transfer from Ellsworth Community College. Davis says U.N.I. tries to get the best players, so he knew he would be pushed for his job and will have to work hard to win the starting job. He says the differences between the two are not big.
Davis says they both like to run, but Rennie may like to run a little more.
Rennie is from North Lauderdale, Florida and is happy with the way the competition is going. Rennie says the competition is going pretty good and they are challenging each other and giving the defense a good test. “We both help each other, we’re like steel sharpening steel,” Rennie says. Rennie says both are tough competitors, but they also help each other out.
He says there’s not animosity toward each other and he says there are five quarterbacks total on the team, and they all talk things over because “five brains are better than one.” Rennie says the differences between the two are an assett to the overall team.
Rennie says the defense will get two different styles of quarterback, as they both can throw and run and do it in little different ways. The Panthers will open up the season on September 11th at home against North Dakota State in what will also be their conference opener.