ASU Football: Two Quarterback System For Sun Devils Could Work

Arizona State takes on Northern Arizona Thursday Night, and although Taylor Kelly was the one to win the starting job, he might not be the only one playing. House of Sparky has the report.

"Taylor will be the every down guy and Mike (Eubank) is going to play," Graham said. "It wont be half and half...hoping we can play 80 plus plays, I would see probably Taylor playing 50 and Mike playing about 30."

This isn't new news. Head coach Todd Graham has hinted at the possibility of two quarterbacks midway through camp, with Michael Eubank a prime backup contender. Considering all of these quarterbacks were recruited by different coaches for different systems, it makes perfect sense to blend them all in to fit them to the offense he's trying to run.

Eliminating Eubank at this point would be a surprise just because of his potential. The 6-foot-5, 242-pound quarterback from Corona, Calif., might be the least developed passer of the trio, but he also is the best rusher among the three. Graham recently said he couldn't imagine a scenario where Eubank didn't contribute in some way, which means ASU could use him as a starter or in certain packages.

"I'm comfortable with whatever the coaches feel like they need to do to win," Eubank said. "... In my personal opinion, I would like to be (the starter), but if (a platoon situation is) what the coaches feel is best for the team, then I'm all for it. I'm a team player."

As the best rusher of the three, you can expect Eubank to be used in special packages this season considering how important it is for the quarterback to run in Graham's system. Although Tino Sunseri didn't get unleashed much at Pitt, for the last two years of his tenure at Tulsa it was Graham's signal-caller G.J. Kinne who led the Owls in rushing. Granted, it wasn't like he was scorching the field like Cam Newton, with only about a modest 561 rushing yards. But given that the offense is designed to share the load (eight rushers over 150 yards on the season while averaging a solid five-plus yards a season) and cause defenses maximal havoc, it could be a perfect role for Eubank this year.

It's going to be proabably a chaotic process trying to get this offense in place, but you have to be intrigued by what Graham is trying to do. Although Northern Arizona isn't the greatest team in the world, this figures to be a bit of a test.