Skyhawk football head coach announced on Monday during his weekly press conference that senior transfer quarterback Gunnar Holcombe will be the starting quarterback for the Skyhawk’s big season opener against non-conference foe Cincinnati over Troy Cook.
Coach Simpson mentioned in that press conference that this is the first time in his ten year coaching tenure at UTM that a quarterback has won the starting job in his first season with the team. However, he is confident that Holcombe is the go to guy for now.
“Gunner [Holcombe] and Troy [Cook] are both good players,” said Simpson. “I think Gunner has separated himself in camp up to this point so he will get the start on Thursday night.”
“He grew up four years in another offense, so he’s still changing things over in his mind and what we call it. He knows where he’s suppose to be and the tempo of the play and what the read is suppose to be, but he’s still not playing as fast or at a level maybe as what Jarod [Neal] was last year. The ability is there and he’s a good player, and a couple of games under his belt and I think you’ll see better execution from him.”
Holcombe, who transferred to UTM from Marshall over the summer, will take over an offense that last year was one of the best in the Ohio Valley Conference, but lost seven key players on that side of the ball, including wide receivers Rod Wright and William Tanner, tight end James Ratliff and running back Trent Garland.
A couple of key offensive players returning for UTM that will help out the new quarterbacks is wide receiver Caylon Weathers and offensive linemen Kadarren Bond, Robert Burleigh, and Kenneth Crenshaw. Also returning on offense are running backs Jaimiee Bowe, Ladevin Fair and Najee Ray as well as receivers Kyle Kerrick and Ben Axline, all of whom did not start but saw significant playing time last season.
The Skyhawks will focus their attention this week on their opening game Thursday night against the tough Cincinnati Bearcats out of the American Athletic Conference.
Cincinnati finished the year last season with a 7-6 overall record, a 4-4 record in the AAC and a suffered a 42-7 loss to San Diego State in the Hawaii Bowl.
The Bearcat’s season was plagued with injuries and bad turnovers. The biggest injury was to their starting quarterback Gunner Kiel. Cincinnati will also be without six veteran wide receivers due to graduation.
Cincinnati head coach Tommy Tuberville has named Hayden Moore the starting quarter back over Kiel who was a two-year starter for the Bearcats. Cincinnati also has eight returning starters on defense, which bodes well for the Bearcats for their week one game against the Skyhawks.
“They’re very much like us on offense, they spread it out, throw the ball and run the ball.” said coach Tuberville about the Skyhawks. “They will come in and they will scrap and play hard.”
“They [UTM] don’t care who they play…They’re not going to be afraid to walk into this stadium and think that they don’t have a chance to win this game. It will be a good opening game for all of us, for both teams and for the fans.”
The Skyhawks and the Bearcats will square off at 6 p.m. CT Thursday, Sept. 1 at Nippert Stadium. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN3 and on the WatchESPN app.
