Katin Houser Impresses Mel Tucker, MSU Coaches During First Fall Scrimmage
While redshirt junior Noah Kim has been the spotlight candidate of Michigan State’s quarterback competition over the past several weeks, recent rumblings suggest redshirt freshman Katin Houser has made up ground on the upperclassman since spring football.
The speculation now is the Spartans' starting quarterback battle is about as close to fifty-fifty as can be with roughly two weeks until Michigan State opens play on Sept. 1 against Central Michigan.
By all accounts, the competition between Kim and Houser has been healthy in nature. Both quarterbacks were highly complimentary of one another during media availability near the start of fall camp, and head coach Mel Tucker highlighted Houser's team-oriented mindset during the Spartans' first fall scrimmage on Saturday.
After each quarterback led touchdown drives in the scrimmage, Houser approached Kim and said, 'We have two' — referring to the offense as a whole, not the quarterbacks individually.
“It wasn’t like, ‘I have one, and you have one," Tucker said. "Or, ‘I had one but mine was against the one’s, you had one and yours was against the two’s.’ Or, ‘I had one and it was a throw, you had one and it was a run’. It was just like, ‘We have two’. That says a lot from that position about our chemistry at this point.”
With the competition between Kim and Houser reportedly very tight, Tucker was asked what would seperate the pair when Michigan State's staff makes their decision on a starter. Tucker pointed to the importance of body language, noting when bad plays happen onlookers’ usually look to see the head coach’s reaction.
Tucker said there’s a fine balance in how to react to negative plays. He can’t brush those plays off like nothing bad happened, but bad body language does nothing to help the situation either. For instance, when a quarterback throws an interception, Tucker said it would be demoralizing to that player if he turned and saw his head coach hanging his head for a prolonged period.
“I can’t do it,” he said. “I’ve got to move on to the next play. I’ve got to help guys get better on the next play. It’s the same thing at the quarterback spot.”
Michigan State's coaches are watching how Kim and Houser react to negative plays — what their body language suggests, how they correct teammates mistakes, etc.
“You have to have poise," Tucker said. "You have to be able to go to the next play and have mental toughness. Our guys are doing that and they’re getting better at that...You don’t want unearned positivity, but at the same time you’ve got to be able to learn from the last play, good or bad, and then move on quickly.”
Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jay Johnson shared a similar message last week, before the Spartans' first scrimmage of fall camp.
“We can’t expect any of these guys to be perfect," Johnson said. "You know, you get into this type of situation and they’re trying to be perfect. I’m like, ‘You’re not going to be perfect. But I want to see what you do after that imperfect play, because that’s going to matter on Saturdays.' That’s a work in progress, and we’re working on that in practice.”
Johnson has been complimentary of both quarterbacks this fall as well. Of Kim, Johnson said the redshirt junior has been "locked in and focused", noting Kim's maturity has been on a new level going all the way back to last season.
Of Houser, Johnson said the redshirt freshman has taken strides in the mental side of the game, noting an increased command of the offense. Houser's physical traits, meanwhile, have never been in question.
“I’ve been very pleased," Johnson said last week. "Katin has exceptional arm talent. I mean, freakish arm talent. He’s really gifted there.”
Tucker is looking forward to Michigan State's second team scrimmage this coming Saturday. The head coach said he'll be watching to see which guys up and down the roster show the most improvement after receiving feedback from their coaches following the first scrimmage. That's when we could really start to see seperation at each position, including quarterback.
That being said, based on how tight the race between Kim and Houser appears right now from the outside looking in, the competition could carry into the start of the season.
Mel Tucker's full comments concerning Michigan State's quarterbacks following the team's first fall scrimmage can be viewed below:
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