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So it would seem that Moe, a senior who led the WIAC in passing (222.8 yards per game) last season, is all set to start the Eagles’ opener Sept. 6 against Hardin-Simmons at Winona State.
Not quite. Terry, who said after Tuesday’s practice that Moe has looked “strong and determined” through the first 10 days of preseason camp, still wants Moe and sophomores Alex Seguin and Nick Anker to keep pushing each other before he names his starter.
“We still haven’t made a final decision yet on who’s going to be the guy and we won’t until sometime early next week,” Terry said.
Moe passed for 1,782 yards, 17 touchdowns and eight interceptions last season. He had one of the best debuts by a quarterback in UW-L history, passing for 324 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in a 47-21 opening win at Hardin-Simmons.
“He started off crazy good,” Terry said. “We felt he could have performed better down the stretch, but still in the end his numbers were in the top two or three for pass efficiency since I’ve been around and that’s pretty good considering the quarterbacks we’ve had.”
Moe suffered a concussion late in the Sept. 29 loss to Whitewater, came back after a week off, and felt a twinge in his right shoulder while throwing a pass Oct. 13 in a loss at Platteville.
The shoulder injury didn’t keep Moe out of any games, and it wasn’t until spring drills that he and Terry revealed that Moe had been playing through pain.
“We felt that looking at it after the season, we needed more out of the (quarterback) position down the stretch,” Terry said. “Part of it was that he had a bad shoulder that not a lot of people knew about. We felt like, hey, you’ve got to show it here in camp and so far he’s responded real well.”
Moe said after the first day of practice Aug. 17 that his shoulder felt good, but he knew the test would come after a week or so of daily throwing.
“So far so good,” Moe said. “It feels like the ball has been coming off my hand real nice. Toward the end of last season in practice, I’d be real hesitant on some routes, like a deep post, but this year I’m not even giving it a second thought.”
Moe had his right shoulder and elbow wrapped in ice after practice Tuesday, but he said it was for normal practice soreness.
“It certainly hasn’t gotten as bad as it was at the end of last year,” Moe said. “That’s encouraging. Once you get into two-a-days, if you can handle it, you feel pretty good about it. I’m looking forward to showing the coaching staff and everybody else that I’m back to the form I was at the beginning of last year.”
Seguin started the Oct. 6 game at Eau Claire, passing for 256 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions in a 31-29 loss. He appeared in three other games.
“(Seguin) has got such great poise and intelligence for the game,” Terry said. “So I have no qualms about playing him and Anker had a great spring. It’s a good problem to have.”
INJURY BUG: Five starters and several players competing for starting jobs sat out of practice Tuesday.
Terry said most of the injuries were not serious and the players were being held out for precautionary reasons.
However, junior Kyle Schulz (shoulder), a left guard candidate, likely will miss the opener, Terry said.
