And then there were three.
Mississippi State had entered summer camp with a four-man battle to replace Dak Prescott as starting quarterback. Friday, one of the combatants, Elijah Staley, did some self-whittling of the group, announcing on his personal Twitter account that he has decided to transfer out of the Bulldogs football program.
The sophomore gave no official reason for his decision, although it’s likely he saw the writing on the quarterback room wall.pic.twitter.com/Ug9yKcmysK
— Elijah Staley (@ES14_) August 12, 2016
MSU head coach Dan Mullen subsequently confirmed Staley’s decision.
“We would like to thank Elijah for his contributions to our football team,” Mullen said in a statement. “During his time here, he has always been a hard worker and a great teammate. We wish him nothing but the best as he pursues another opportunity.”
A three-star 2014 signee who redshirted as a true freshman, Staley played in two games last season. He went 3-of-5 passing for 51 yards and a touchdown, while also adding 18 yards rushing on three carries.
Staley also dabbled in basketball while at MSU, practicing with the men’s hoops team in 2014-15 but never actually seeing the floor in a game. In January of this year, he announced he had decided to quit the hoops team in order to focus all of his attention on football.
With Staley out of the way, the Bulldogs’ new starter will come from the trio of, in alphabetical order, sophomore Nick Fitzgerald, freshman Nick Tiano and junior Damian Williams.