Dennis Clark
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
For the first time since Derek Eitel was a freshman, a full-fledged competition for the quarterback position is taking place at Rose-Hulman — and interim head coach Jayson Martin is of the opinion that competition is a good thing.
For now, former Casey, Ill., standout Mitch Snyder (6-foot-2, 200) is the likely starter coming out of preseason workouts for the Engineers’ season opener at DePauw on Saturday.
Competition has been fierce, a three-way battle between Snyder, freshman Ryan Landwehr (6-5, 200) and sophomore Shane Boschert (6-0, 175). While Snyder is the opening game starter, that is not set in stone for the rest of season.
“Right now, Mitch Snyder has separated a little bit,” Martin explained. “He’s made the least amount of mistakes. Proving he can step up and be a vocal leader a little bit.”
“It’s going pretty well,” Snyder said. “With the two other quarterbacks, we’ve been battling throughout camp and last spring. But there are a lot of older guys on the team, [especially] the offensive line. So it’s been a pretty smooth transition, not too bad for us. It’s been a pretty good persuasion for me.”
Competition for the starting Rose QB job was nonexistent during Eitel’s four years (2006-9). Due to an injury to senior Cameron Hummel early that season, then-freshman Eitel never relinquished his early opportunity and went on to be a four-year starter.
Eitel placed his name atop all major statistical rankings, becoming Rose-Hulman’s career leader in yardage (7,507), completions (576) and touchdown passes (52). But now he’s graduated; the two-sport star is currently playing Class A baseball, pitching for the South Bend Silver Hawks in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization.
“Oh yeah, I’ve known Derek for quite a while,” Snyder smiled. “It was a learning experience for me, learned a lot about college football just watching him. Throughout the year he taught me a lot of stuff. We were pretty close.”
Snyder has a great pedigree as a high school quarterback at Casey, leading his team to the state championship game his senior year. In Illinois high school career rankings, he is ninth in TD passes (70), 15th in completion percentage (61.6) and 18th in passing yards (5,739).
“I played a lot of big games in high school,” Snyder said. “That’s going to make some of these games a little easier for me. I mean, you still have to do big stuff to play college football. It’s definitely helped me out a little bit.”
As a freshman at Rose, he played briefly in five games, completing 5 of 10 passes with one TD and one interception.
“I just have to do my part,” Snyder, a civil engineering major, noted. “With our offense, you don’t have to throw the ball 30 times to win ballgames. We have two great running backs back, got good receivers back.”
Those offensive leaders include senior running backs Calvin Bueltel and Kyle Kovach, along with receivers, seniors Reed Eason, Ben Hopf and junior Andrew Huddleston.
“His confidence in himself and his abilities are what separates him now,” Martin described Snyder. “Some people might say that borders on cockiness. But I kind of like it, he has a little swagger to him. I think right now that’s what is pushing him over the edge. He’s game-tested, the most game-ready guy right now.”
As for the other two competing quarterbacks?
“Still really, really high on the freshman,” Martin said of Landwehr. “If you had talked to me a week ago, I would have said the freshman and Mitch were neck and neck. [Early on], the freshman was the only guy who hadn’t turned the ball over, hadn’t thrown an interception in practice.
“He had a couple of those in the scrimmage. But his ceiling is really high. Big kid, he throws the ball high, which is good because we’ve got some really big tackles, one tackle at 6-7, the other at 6-5.
“I think that’s where Shane Boschert struggles a little bit, in seeing the whole field once we put that offensive line in front of him. He looks really good in 7-on-7, he moves really well. He’s still in the running, but I think he needs another year to play JV and get some more games under his belt.”
While Snyder will begin the season as the starter, Martin stated he will not hesitate to switch QBs if he deems it necessary.
“I think the guy who ends up starting [the opener] is not necessarily his job for the whole season,” Martin added. “I think it’s going to be a continuing work in process. They’re going to have to prove each game that they’re getting the job done.
“I don’t want to say we’re going to have a quick hook, because I’ve never been that type of person. I don’t want the quarterback looking over his shoulder, think ‘aw, if I make a mistake, make a bad throw, he’s taking me out.’
“But if we’re stalling and not moving the football, maybe give the young guy a series and see what he does. Because I think that’s the best way to learn, is to get in there and actually do it. I’ve told [quarterbacks] the kid that doesn’t take the sacks, doesn’t turn the ball over … that’s the guy we’re going to go with.”
Martin is a firm believer that competition is a healthy thing for a football team, not just at quarterback, but at all positions.
“[Quarterback] is going to be an open position every year,” Martin said. “That I think is the one thing Derek never had. Never had competition, never had anyone push him. A really, really great football player. But I think it would be scary to see how good he could have been, if he’d had somebody that could have possibly took his job. He never had that. Never had competition the four years he was here.”
