The fog of preseason camp across the college football landscape is clearing as teams began preparation for Week 1, or in Sam Houston’s case, Week Zero.

There were five true quarterback battles in the Lone Star State as the 13 FBS programs began practice in 2025. Two were settled on Monday as news leaked that Chase Jenkins won the job at Rice for new head coach Scott Abell while Drew Mestemaker will be named starting quarterback at North Texas. 

That leaves three open battles heading into the first week of the college football season. One of those teams – Sam Houston – plays on Saturday when the Bearkats open against conference foe Western Kentucky on the road in Week Zero. New head coach Phi Longo arrived from Wisconsin and brought former four-star recruit from the Woodlands, Mabrey Mettauer, with him to compete with returning starter Hunter Watson. 

Longo is an Air Raid offensive coordinator by trade and is calling plays at Sam Houston. Watson doesn’t exactly fit that style of offenses with his bruising running style. Sources tell us that the Bearkats likely won’t name a starter ahead of the Western Kentucky game and that both quarterbacks could play. Maybe Sam is playing coy, but this does feel like a quarterback battle that lasts into the season. Our prediction is that Watson takes the first snaps but that Mettauer gets his chance by mid-season as the future of the position under Longo. 

Sources tell DCTF that the UTEP Miners expect to name a starting quarterback by the end of the week. This was a four-man battle heading into camp with Skyler Locklear, who started nine times for the Miners last year and was recruited to Austin Peay by head coach Scotty Walden out of high school, the favorite after spring because of his experience and familiarity with the offense. He’s competing with former five-star recruit Malachi Nelson, who transferred to El Paso from Boise State in the winter. Cade McConnell and Shay Smith were also in the mix. 

That leaves Texas State. The Bobcats will have their third different starting QB for Week 1 in the three years under G.J. Kinne in 2025. Kinne added a handful of transfer quarterbacks over the two windows in the offseason to compete with Brad Jackson. Jackson, who was recruited by Kinne out of high school and the best quarterback in the spring, remains the favorite to start in Week 1 with Keldric Luster and Holden Geriner competing for QB2.