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Sophomore Nick Anker will make his first start at quarterback for the winless Eagles against UW-Eau Claire, ranked eighth by D3football.com, on Saturday, Terry said.
Anker will be the team’s third starter at the position in five games this season. Senior Griffin Moe played the opener, and sophomore Alex Seguin started the next three games.
“We’ve just got to find a guy that can lead the team,” Terry said. “It was (a) very difficult (decision) because the last thing you want is a musical chairs at quarterback.”
Anker, a native of Wausau, Wis., transferred to UW-L in the spring of 2007. He started his college career at Minnesota State University Moorhead, then left after a short stay and took classes at UW-Marathon County before heading to La Crosse.
“This is my shot; I just can’t wait for Saturday,” Anker said. “I feel confident and ready. I’ve been waiting for this for as long as I can remember.”
Anker appeared in games against North Dakota and UW-Whitewater this season and completed four of 10 passes with one interception.
UW-L ranks seventh in the WIAC in pass offense (128.5 yards per game) and last in scoring offense (10 points per game). Eagles quarterbacks have completed 51.5 percent of their passes — also last in the league — with two touchdowns and four interceptions.
Now, it’s up to Anker to get the offense rolling. It won’t be easy against the Blugolds, who lead the WIAC in pass defense (138.8 ypg.) and scoring defense (7.0 ppg.).
“I just want to make the right decisions, get the right people the ball,” Anker said. “I think we have awesome athletes all over the place on the field. We’ve just got to bring things together and hopefully we can do that Saturday.”
Terry said Anker had a sharp week of practice, particularly on Thursday after being informed he was the starter.
“First of all, our quarterback has got to be able to throw the football, accurately and on time,” Terry said. “Tonight he was playing very fast and not hanging on to the ball and I loved that. I thought his tempo today was excellent. He’s also our fastest quarterback and he’s got some mobility, which is nice to have.”
Anker caught Terry’s eye during spring drills. But with Moe returning for his senior year after leading the conference in passing and Seguin as the established backup, Anker had to take a back seat this fall.
Until now.
“I thought Nick had the best spring of all the guys,” Terry said. “Why did we not go with him? Well, we’ve got a senior returner and once he didn’t have success, Alex had the most experience so we went with him. The one thing with Nick we’ve known all along is he’s a pretty good quarterback.”
KEENEY OUT: The injury bug that swept through the defense against Whitewater hit the offense this week. Wide receiver Tyler Keeney (shoulder) will not play against Eau Claire.
Keeney, a junior, has seven receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown this season.
