Spring at a Glance: Big 12 Quarterbacks

With spring practices getting underway across the Big 12, why not check in with one of the high profile positions, the quarterback?

At Iowa State second year head coach Gene Chizik has a two-man race for the starting QB job as Austen Arnaud and Phillip Bates will battle it out.

"For me, it's just learning every day," said Arnaud, who is competing with Phillip Bates for the starting job. "You can make your share of plays, but if you're turning the ball over, it doesn't really matter."

Bates played wide receiver a year ago, but is a full-time quarterback for the time-being.

At Nebraska Joe Ganz begins the spring as the clear-cut number one QB after starting the final three games of the 2007 season. This is a new spot for Ganz who had spent three years in the program as a backup.

"It's weird," Ganz said. "It's going to be different."

"Now that I've gotten to where I want to, I'm just going to have to work that much harder to not let anybody take it from me," Ganz said. "I've worked too hard to let somebody come up and take the job from me, so I really don't need any more motivation than that."

In Stillwater, Zac Robinson also has the starting job locked down. The backup spot, however, is up for grabs. Sophomore Alex Cate and redshirt freshman Brandon Weeden will vie for the job.

"It's huge for those two guys," co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Gunter Brewer said about Friday's scrimmage and the three others that will take place this spring. "They have not had any live action. They found that out today. That's why live snaps are so much better than practice snaps. It's as close as you're going to get to a game against a defense that's throwing a lot of stuff at you."

At Oklahoma, Keith Nichol would like more playing time, but is apparently comfortable backing up Sam Bradford for the foreseeable future.

"I was disappointed, I'm not going to lie. But the team did really good and Sam played well. As an overall I was happy. From a selfish, personal standpoint, I was a little disappointed I wasn't playing. But at the same time the team is playing good and we're rolling, and I was happy about that. I had mixed emotions."

But backup quarterbacks at Texas might not be as happy, as internet rumors have Sherrod Harris and G.J. Kinne allegedly considering transferring. These rumors are news, however, to Mack Brown.

"There's been rumors for 100 years about players transferring, and it's always the third or fourth quarterback," Brown said. "That's 100 percent in my 33 years coaching.

"Neither one of them has said anything about it or discussed it. In fact, both took all the snaps in today's scrimmage and did really well.

"If anybody ever wants to transfer and has not come forward to us, we'd be the first to help them and get them a release anywhere they want to go. We've never asked a player to stay. We'll always give them a release to play against us, anywhere they want. We want happy players.

"I don't read the Internet, so you all will have to bring me the rumors so I can go ask them."