Ohio's five quarterbacks look to lead the way next season.
Greg Windham left Peden Stadium on Saturday in disgust.
After getting thrashed by Ohio's defense to a tune of 62-18, Windham said the offense didn’t execute as they should have.
“We didn’t like this performance, and we’re gonna go into the offseason and work our butt off,” he said Saturday. “We’re gonna do everything we can to get ready for the fall and put on a show.”
But while the spring game was a dud for the offense, the unit still has high aspirations for next season.
And that starts with the quarterback position.
“We’re gonna be explosive,” Windham said. “We’ve got a lot of guys coming back, we’ve got a lot of chemistry.”
Windham saw the most reps at the position this spring, starting the spring game.
The redshirt senior saw split time last year, playing sparingly behind Derrius Vick and J.D. Sprague.
“I got a little bit of experience going in, I know what’s going on, the game has slowed down tremendously to me,” Windham said.
Although he shared reps with Sprague last year, the job was all Windham’s this spring, as Sprague was out for the spring recovering from an offseason operation.
Windham and Sprague figure to compete for the job come fall, as they are the only two quarterbacks with previous game experience on the roster.
Behind those two, the depth chart is young. Conner Krizancic, Joey Duckworth and Quinton Maxwell all received repetitions this spring, with Maxwell getting second-team reps Saturday.
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“It’s tough, because only one of us gets to play, and we know that, I just go into it and control what you can control,” Maxwell said. “If we’re all pushing each other, whoever gets the spot is going to be better for it.”
After redshirting last season, the Rayville, Missouri, native will enter the fall trying to learn the offense, as well grow as a student.
“I’m still trying to make the transition from high school to college, trying to learn the system,” Maxwell said. “Learn how to operate within the system.”
Competing with Maxwell was Krizancic and Duckworth, both redshirt sophomores.
Duckworth has shown promise in practice, displaying the size needed to play the quarterback position. Duckworth is listed on Ohiobobcats.com at 6-foot-3, 209 pounds.
“You just have to take it one day at a time, and control what you can control,” he said. “Just every day just give your best, the rest will take care of itself.”
Krizancic comes in from Minnesota, transferring back to the quarterback position from wide receiver, a transition that isn’t easy on anyone.
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“Just making smart decisions, knowing where to put the ball, matchups, just everything about the defense," Krizancic said. “Looking at corners, safeties and linebackers, it’s just a whole lot bigger than I thought it was. But I’m learning, it’s been good.”
After deciding to transfer from Minnesota, Krizancic knew exactly where to go — the place people cared about him.
“Out of high school, probably the biggest thing at Mentor to me was in January I de-committed from Cincinnati, and a week later, I played a basketball game at Shaker Heights," he said. “I think there was 10 OU coaches at my game. After that, I realized how much they cared about me. I kind of regretted it as soon as I went to Minnesota.”
So as Windham left Peden Stadium, he knew that the unit had to perform better and up to standard.
With young and old quarterbacks on the depth chart, the success of the 2016 Bobcats rests at the feet of those five.
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