Rob Ambrose has not declared the starting quarterback for the Towson football team, and a timetable for that announcement is not set. But the head coach has been pleased by what he has seen from redshirt junior Heath Dahlgren, redshirt sophomores Ellis Knudson and Morgan Mahalak and freshmen Ryan Stover and Triston Harris.
"I'm enjoying it," he said after Wednesday's practice at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson. "I've got three guys that are truly competing, and I'm impressed with Ryan Stover and even Triston's got more to him than I thought. In general, I think we've had pretty good quarterback play since I've been back here, but I don't know if we've had as many good guys back there at the same time. The fall-off between one guy and another is really minimal. This will be a heated competition between not just one or two guys. Competition makes these guys work harder."
In a surprising twist, the 6-foot-2, 241-pound Knudson ran the first-team offense. He threw nearly as many incompletions as completions, but a few of his passes were dropped by receivers.
The 6-3, 205-pound Mahalak, the celebrated transfer from Oregon, backed up Knudson. Mahalak has a certain pace on his throws that catches the eye, but he overthrew several receivers.
Asked if any inferences could be drawn from Knudson lining up with the first offense, Ambrose replied, "No, other than the fact that Morgan's been with this team for three practices and Ellis has been here for over a year. If you come back next week and you're here for two days in a row and the same guy is taking reps with the ones, then yeah, you can start drawing some inferences."
Other notes and observations:
** Redshirt junior outside linebacker James Simms is no longer on the team. The Laurel resident and Reservoir graduate who led the Tigers in tackles with 99 in 2014 was removed from the roster for getting into what Ambrose called "the kind of trouble that would keep him from being on the roster." The defense is well stocked at outside linebacker with redshirt senior Jordan Mynatt (Wilde Lake), senior Eric Handy (Wilde Lake), redshirt junior Bryton Barr and redshirt sophomore James Scott, which is perhaps why Ambrose didn't seem terribly upset about Simms' absence. "James didn't play a lot last year because of other things and he got injured," Ambrose said. "All that means is that other guys get more reps and more experience."
** Junior defensive end Zain Harps Upshur stood out in practice. During a full-team exercise, the 6-1, 283-pound lineman stripped junior running back Marquel Dickerson of the football, which was recovered by redshirt junior defensive end D'Sean Cummings. Earlier during a drill pitting one defensive lineman against a pair of offensive linemen, Harps Upshur shrugged off one blocker before driving back the other. That display compelled offensive line coach John Donatelli to exclaim, "No one can block Zain?! Come on!"
** The fact that Wednesday marked the team's third practice of training camp didn't mean that the coaches had lowered their standards. During a seven-on-seven drill, offensive coordinator Jared Ambrose loudly admonished a wide receiver for not blocking upfield on a swing pass to a teammate. On the ensuing play, defensive coordinator Matt Hachmann lit into his defense for not lining up quickly enough.
** Ambrose has broken up the monotony of practice with a series of fun contests. On Monday, players who are not punters or kickers lined up to see who could kick the longest, straightest punt. On Tuesday, they attempted field goals. On Wednesday, six players were elected to see who could execute the most tire flips in a span of 30 seconds. Harps Upshur opened with 14 flips, which redshirt junior center Shawn Flaherty, senior right tackle Fred Santarelli, senior nose tackle Max Tejada and redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Reece Burnett could not match. But the final participant, redshirt freshman linebacker Malik Tyne, flipped the tire 15 times to edge out Harps Upshur.