Worth The Wait

For the second straight year, Bryan Harsin has a big decision to make.

And once again, the Boise State offensive coordinator is in no hurry to make it.

Brian Losness-US PRESSWIRE

Bush Hamdan's focused on winning the Broncos' QB job.

Harsin could end the quarterback competition and satisfy an eager-to-know fan base by naming a starter before the end of spring practice. But as recent history has shown, the best quarterback in the spring might not be the best man to lead the potent Broncos offense when the season kicks off.

"Taylor didn't have the best spring," Harsin said, referring to last year's starting quarterback, Taylor Tharp. "He took advantage of the summertime and took advantage of his opportunity in fall camp. The rest is history."

Tharp won the job weeks before the season and showed he was worth the wait. He ranked seventh nationally in pass efficiency (152.9) and threw 30 touchdown passes, leading Boise State to a 10-3 season.

His successor will come from a pool of four candidates: senior Bush Hamdan, junior Nick Lomax, sophomore Mike Coughlin and redshirt freshman Kellen Moore. All four have received equal repetitions this spring, but Hamdan and Moore have emerged as the early favorites.

"We don't need to have our starter right now," Harsin said. "There's not a ton of pressure on that, but there's a short window in fall camp of, after the first week, we've got to pick a guy and go."

Moore sparkled in the first spring scrimmage, completing 10 of 14 passes for 114 yards and a touchdown (he added a rushing touchdown). A left-hander who played high school football for his father, Moore's beyond-his-years savvy has helped him overcome a smallish frame (6-foot-1, 180 pounds).

"He's a coach's son, he's a football junkie," Harsin said. "He knows as much football, if not more, than all the coaches on staff."

Moore credits his quick learning to his experience last season, when he ran with the scout team, learning new schemes every week, picking up Boise State's system and working against the starting defense.

"There's a lot of variety in our offense, but at the same time it's not overwhelming," he said. "It all makes sense, and it's a lot of fun to play."

Hamdan has been here before. He came out of last spring as the front-runner to win the starting job but was slowed by a hand injury before the season.

A reserve for the past three seasons, Hamdan hopes to mirror the path of his older brother, Gibran, a former quarterback at Indiana who waited his turn before putting together a strong senior season.

"He's a very bright, mature kid," Harsin said. "Going through it, with the hype, that's not fazing him just because he's been through it X amount of times. He's handled himself well."

All four candidates are helped by having not just a coach but a confidant in Harsin, a former Broncos reserve quarterback who competed for the starting job in 1999 before losing out to Bart Hendricks.

"When we were going through it, it wasn't probably as hyped as it is now, but you don't know what to expect," Harsin said. "If there's any issue, any questions, anything that's gray, they need to talk to me.

"These guys know they're competing, and they're still going to be able to compete through summer and fall. Then we'll be able to make our decision."

More Of The Same

He's kept things as stable as possible.

Blakeney started by promoting Neal Brown to replace offensive coordinator Tony Franklin, who left for the same post at Auburn. The 27-year-old Brown played for Franklin at Kentucky and worked under him for two seasons at Troy, learning an offense that ranked 16th nationally in yards (452.8 ypg) and 25th in points (34 ppg) last fall.

"That's the reason he is the coordinator," Blakeney said. "We don't want to change. We want to be a system team, we want to be no-huddle, up-tempo, able to run the football and throw the pass to set up the run."

Quarterback Omar Haugabook ran the system to near perfection the past two seasons, winning back-to-back Sun Belt offensive player of the year awards. With top-shelf speed and decent passing skills, Haugabook provided Blakeney a prototype for the future.

Jamie Hampton might fit the same mold. None of the three candidates to replace Haugabook separated himself in spring practice, which ended Saturday, but Hampton's athleticism gives him an edge.

"He has to be one of the top two," Blakeney said. "Speed-wise, Omar was probably a little faster, but Jamie's big and can take those big, long steps and can cut, turn and change directions really well."

Both Hampton and fellow competitor Tanner Jones appeared in eight games last season behind Haugabook. Jones and the third candidate, Richmond transfer Levi Brown, both are traditional drop-back passers.

"They've been good, they've been bad, they've been in the middle," Blakeney said. "We need to get to a point where we can name one and have a backup, and everybody else is getting the crumbs."

Adam Rittenberg covers college football for ESPN.com. He can be reached at espnritt@gmail.com.