As Delaware begins preseason football prep, lengthy competition for QB job expected

Delaware has two quarterbacks vying for the starting job and it’s likely both will play when games begin starting Aug. 31 at Stony Brook.

That may even include on the same play.

The up-tempo spread offense Delaware employs is derived from the tricky Chip Kelly-created version Blue Hens coach Ryan Carty operated during his 11-year stint on the New Hampshire staff. His UD quarterbacks coach, Sean Goldrich, is one of his former UNH quarterbacks.

There, quarterbacks, Goldrich included, sometimes shared the position and even the field for some plays.

As Delaware began preseason practice Monday morning, it was clear it has two very capable quarterbacks in Ryan O’Connor and Zach Marker, and both are likely to get on the field early, and maybe even together periodically.

“It’ll take two, three, maybe even four weeks to figure out who rises to the top because it’s a matter of reps,” Carty said Monday, adding as more of the offense is installed the need to execute will increase.

This is the first major preseason competition for the Blue Hens’ starting quarterback job since 2018. That was an interesting one, as then-coach Danny Rocco and his staff anointed Pat Kehoe.

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The fourth-year junior had appeared in just one career game and hadn’t thrown a college pass. But he’d outshone J.P. Caruso, the Appalachian State transfer who started Delaware’s final six games the previous season, and transfer Darius Wade, the ex-Middletown High All-Stater who’d started six career games at Boston College.

“We would love to get to the point where we have one starter that really takes it away and gives us the best chance to win,” said Goldrich.

Kehoe sparked Delaware to its first NCAA playoff berth in eight years. But the competition is constant and he lost the starting job early in the 2019 season to Smyrna grad Nolan Henderson, then a third-year sophomore.

Now the Hens must replace the prolific Henderson, who sits No. 2 on the Delaware career chart for touchdown passes (56) and is fifth in passing yards (6,429).

“We could,” Carty said when asked if he might regularly play both quarterbacks. “… There are certain types of people; until you put him in a game, it’s hard to see what they can do in practice because of the rules of engagement in practices [where quarterbacks are not hit]. Did they make that play or did they not? Did they break that tackle or did they not?”

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The advantages O'Connor has are experience and knowledge of the offense. As a redshirt freshman last year, O'Connor stepped in when Henderson was hurt early in Delaware’s FCS tournament round-of-16 loss at South Dakota State.

Against the eventual NCAA champs, he completed 10 of 21 passes for 104 yards, had 13 yards on 11 runs and was sacked three times before his scary concussion forced a premature end to the game. He also appeared in three lopsided wins before that, completing 5 of 6 passes for 66 yards and a touchdown.

O’Connor’s preseason mindset hasn’t changed because he’s competing for the starting job.

“I’m just going out there and trying to be my best every day and I’m not worried about anybody else,” said O’Connor, who threw for 5,563 career yards and 65 touchdowns at Easton (Maryland) High. “And, honestly, it’s good to be around the guys that we have, like we’re making each other better.”

Marker threw for 1,800 yards and ran for 1,104 while being responsible for 38 touchdowns at Norwalk High in Iowa. He went to Iowa Central Community College and climbed the depth chart to become the team’s regular last season.

Marker threw for 1,342 yards and ran for 411, second most on the team. His 23 TD passes ranked third in NJCAA Division I and he was No. 2 in pass efficiency (161.8) and eighth in completion percentage (61.8).

“Play your game, don’t worry about the competition too much,” Marker said of his approach to winning the job, “because, at the end of the day, you play well you’re going to play, you don’t play well, you’re not going to play.’’

His comfort in the offense is significantly improved since the spring, he added.

Carty said both quarterbacks have the right energy, positive approach and leadership qualities to handle the job.

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Individually, he said, O’Connor is a smart, accurate thrower and “has that steadiness to his demeanor. I don’t think things really flap him from play to play.”

As for Marker, Carty complimented “his knack for making plays” and superior athletic ability and quickness.

At Iowa Central, Marker noted, practices were live and quarterbacks could be hit. His ability in such situations likely earned him the job.

Goldrich played quarterback at New Hampshire with Carty as his position coach and coordinator from 2012-15. He understands what his Delaware quarterbacks are experiencing because he was involved in frequent battles for the starting position with Andy Vailas, a year older. The starter’s job actually went back and forth between the two, who remain close friends today.

Vailas sparked UNH to a 34-14 win over Delaware in 2012 after the Wildcats were shut out in the first half. Two years later, Goldrich threw four TD passes in a 43-14 win over the visiting Blue Hens. He eventually passed for 7,536 career yards on UNH teams that reached the 2013 and 2014 FCS semifinals.

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Goldrich learned, he said, that “you need two if you want to be an elite football team,” especially with injuries also common. Time and situations will dictate what the Blue Hens do.

“We want to find ways to put some things on film,” Goldrich said, “that are gonna get defenses afraid of us. It all starts with the QB spot.”

Hen scratch

“I thought, for sure, we got better today,” Carty said after the first practice. “… I thought our energy and our focus and our intensity were tremendous and that’s the standard that got set today.” … Delaware also has an early quarterback commit among its Class of 2024 recruits in Braden Streeter of Christ Presbyterian Academy in Nashville. That’s a familiar football name as grandfather Barry Streeter was Gettysburg coach for 40 years, dad Jason played at Lehigh and uncle Brandon was quarterback at Clemson and a long-time assistant there who is now at Georgia. … Other commits are Kaeden Singleton, 6-2, 228, DE/TE, Canon-McMillan (Canonsburg, Pa.); Greg Spiller, 6-0, 195, DB/WR, John Champe (Aldie, Va.); Nick Tyree, 5-9, 165, WR, Thomas Dale (Chester, Va.); and Jackson Whitacre, 6-4, 235, DL/TE, Shore Regional (West Long Branch, N.J.).

Have an idea for a compelling local sports story or is there an issue that needs public scrutiny? Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Ryan O'Connor, Zach Marker vie for Delaware Blue Hens starting QB job