Of the 17 -- 17! -- offensive and defensive starters Boise State lost from last season’s 12-win squad, the departure of quarterback Kellen Moore figures to be the one that will most impact the Broncos in 2012 as they enter their final season in the Mountain West.
Technically it’s been a four-horse race since the beginning of the spring to replace the greatest quarterback in the school’s history, although it’s been expected that junior Joe Southwick would emerge from the signal-calling scrum as Moore’s shoe-filler.
In an article with the partial headline of “Southwick looks like favorite for starting job at scrimmage,” the Idaho Statesman writes that the presumptive leader “looks like the clear favorite” to replace Moore after taking all of the snaps with the first-team offense in a scrimmage Saturday.
Petersen even heavily intimated after the scrimmage that the thinking of both the paper and the fans regarding the QB competition is headed in that general direction.
“When we make the decision, we’ll tell everybody,” he said. “You guys know as much as I do how (Southwick) did. You saw what I saw. There’s some good stuff, but we’ve got to go put the tape on and analyze everything.”
Sophomore Grant Hedrick, redshirt freshman Jimmy Laughrea and true freshman Nick Patti are the other three players involved in the competition, with the former taking all of the first-half snaps with the second-team offense.
Southwick served as Moore’s main backup last season, completing 23 of his 30 pass attempts for 198 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Hedrick is the only other of the foursome to throw a pass at the collegiate level.
Petersen has given no timeline for a decision on a starting QB. The No. 24 Broncos open the season at No. 13 Michigan State Aug. 31.