Hank Biesiot can not recall a year when the Dickinson State football team was faced with choosing between three quarterbacks.
"I don't think we've been in this with a three guys," Biesiot said. "We've been in it with two guys a number of times."
Matt Gittings, Jared Tuma and Caleb Midrua are all juniors with different styles and abilities.
"You could alternate every play, go with a gut feeling or go with the guy in the first game who has the most experience," Biesiot said.
Gittings, the only player with varsity experience, is penciled in as the starter for today's game against Montana State-Northern. He saw time behind starter Brandon Bishop-Parise last season, but threw just 51 passes and three touchdowns.
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"Everything right is right up in the air," Gittings said. "We don't even know what's going on."
So the three players are using every practice as an audition, trying to beat each other for the starting job, while maintaining a team philosophy.
"We don't have anything against each other," said Midura, a transfer from Sac City College in California. "If you watch how we practice, we work together, correct each other and try to help each other out. ... It's just about getting better."
While Gittings is smaller and has the speed and ability to work outside the pocket, Midura and Tuma both stand 6-foot-3 and are prototypical drop-back passers.
Coaches and players alike believe Midura is an accurate passer who would thrive in a short-passing offense while Tuma has the best arm of the three quarterbacks and can chuck the ball farther downfield than anyone on the team.
"We all do our own individual things well," said Tuma, who has thrown threw just three career passes.
What is making things very interesting in practice is that Gittings has the ability to move to wide receiver and showed his chops at the position during the Blue-Grey scrimmage on Aug. 25.
"I heard coach say once that he wants to put his best players on the field and that's fine," Gittings said. "Not taking anything away from our other receivers because we have a few that are really good."
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All three players hope a positive decision will be made soon. Tuma believes the competition at quarterback is both good and bad for the team going into its first game.
"In a way it's good. ... You just have to go out and work hard every day," Tuma said. "Whoever comes out on top, comes out on top. Hopefully it's better for the team."
