MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Looking for a clue as to the frontrunner in West Virginia’s quarterback battle?
So is Shannon Dawson, at least publicly.
The offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach on Thursday night termed the position battle a dead heat between junior Paul Millard and redshirt freshman Ford Childress, reiterating that a starter likely won’t be named until fall camp.
“They’re even — there’s never been a quarterback race more even than them two,” Dawson said. “They’re doing the same things good, the same things bad. One day one of them might slightly do better. But to be honest with you, at this point it’s probably a lot more bad than good.”
“They still make inexperienced mistakes every day, and the only way you correct that is reps. … To expect them to be in a situation where they go out and perform on a Saturday, we’re not there yet. Thank goodness for spring ball, right? Fifteen practices, we’ll take it. We’re not in any hurry to get on the field on a Saturday.”
With reps split 50-50, Dawson said the competition is keeping both players on edge.
“They sharpen each other,” he said. “If either one of them gets complacent, the other one will win the job.
“I like that (the race is close) right now, but eventually you want it to be clear-cut. Hopefully at some point one of them will rise up.”