KANSAS CITY, MO. — Before anyone could even ask, Emporia State coach Garin Higgins went ahead and started a quarterback controversy.
Andre Sloan El has been Emporia State’s starting quarterback for each of the last two seasons, but on Monday at MIAA media day, Higgins did not rule out the possibility of last year’s backup Zach Rampy surpassing Sloan El during fall camp.
“Both of them will compete for the job,” Higgins said. “I think it’s very important that you have competition for all your positions, but especially at that quarterback spot, because I think Andre’s a guy that needs to be pushed. He doesn’t need to have anything given to him on a silver platter, or he’ll be an average player. He’s a quarterback that has to be pushed, so he can reach his full potential and Zach will be that guy to do that.”
Sloan El would have to be the front-runner. He started nine of 10 games last year, and led the team in rushing (439 yards) and in every passing statistic. He threw for 1,416 yards, completed 60.1 percent of his passes and threw 10 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Sloan El was impressive at times, especially in Emporia State’s wins. He completed 69 percent of his passes and threw for five touchdowns, compared to only two interceptions in ESU’s wins. He also had a rushing touchdown in all four of those games and ran for 97 yards against Truman State.
But then Sloan El also had games like at Washburn, where he threw two key interceptions and the offense scored only six points.
“When I talk about consistency, he’s got to be a guy that plays consistent,” Higgins said. “There were games last year where he looked like one of the top quarterbacks in the league, and then there were games last year where he disappeared. I think the reason for that is we put a lot on his shoulders, we expected him to do a lot, but that’s part of our offense, too. But I think now we’ve added guys around him that will make him better and Zach better throughout the course of the year.”
Most of Rampy’s playing time last year — when not filling in for Sloan El because of injury — came as a change of pace. Higgins compares Rampy to a sixth-man in basketball, someone he can bring off the bench to provide a spark.
Rampy, a redshirt sophomore, is also entering his third season in the program. He completed 21-of-41 passes for 243 yards, a touchdown and one interception last year.
If Rampy has an advantage, it would be the fact that he was the starter during spring ball, because Sloan El had to sit out in order to be eligible this year.
New backs give ESU depth at running back
Two newcomers who could make the biggest impact for Emporia State this year are both transfer running backs.
La’Darrian Page is a proven running back in the MIAA, and Kevin Smart, a 210-pound transfer from Northeastern State, gives the Hornets the big back they were missing last year in short yardage.
Page transferred from Hutchinson Community College, where he spent one season after transferring from Missouri Western.
Page made the All-MIAA second team and was the Mineral Water Bowl MVP as a freshman for the Griffons, rushing for 1,261 yards and 14 touchdowns. Last season at Hutch, he was an NJCAA first-team All-American, rushing for 1,340 yards and 10 touchdowns.
“With La’Darrian, I don’t like to anoint anybody anything, because he’s done all those things but he hasn’t done it here at Emporia State yet, but we feel like he has the potential to do those things,” Higgins said. “He has the potential to be a good running back, and we’ve been able to see him on a firsthand basis back in 2007, and he did a great job at Hutchinson Junior College last year. He’s still going to have to come in and compete for the job.”
Page will compete with sophomore Adrian Abner, who ran for 289 yards and a touchdown in an injury-plagued freshman season. Abner’s durability was his main issue last year, and he’s put on weight in the offseason to help him become more durable.
“Adrian Abner last year looked like one of the best backs in the league against Nebraska-Omaha,” Higgins said. “He rushed for 120 yards against them, and then he got banged up and was never the same. When you go back to talking about depth and all that, the running back position is a very deep position.”
That depth will be provided by Smith, who should be relied on when the Hornets are in short yardage situations.
“I hated short yardage last year, because we didn’t have a physical back and we weren’t very physical at times,” Higgins said. “We were very young on the offensive line and we weren’t very strong. So when you put youth and strength together on the offensive line, third-and-two was not a good situation for us last year. We just weren’t very good there.
“Do I think we’ll be better there this year? I do. Just for the simple fact that we’ll be stronger at running back and we’ll be stronger and have more experience on the offensive line.”
Defensive line key
Higgins said that he believes Emporia State’s defense will be the best its been in his three years as coach; however, he provided a disclaimer.
“There’s a lot of things that will play into that. Defensive line, we’ve got a lot of depth there, but there’s some question marks there,” he said. “I think if we get good play and consistent play out of our defensive line that we will have one of the best defenses since we’ve been here.”
The Hornets got a big boost in the offseason to their defensive line when Angelo Webb decided to return. Webb, who made the All-MIAA second-team last year, decided in the spring to go to school part-time so he could play another season.