ESU QB room 'as talented as it's ever been', despite no clear starter

EMPORIA (KSNT) - On Thursday, Emporia State head football coach Garin Higgins was asked about having multiple quarterbacks worthy of a starting job.

"That's a good problem to have," he said.

The Hornets enter the 2024 season with a lot of key returners on both sides of the football, but they have to fill the role school passing yards and touchdowns leader Braden Gleason.

"If you went and looked at our depth chart right now, there'd just be four guys on one line," Higgins said about the QB position.

The four fighting for the job are fifth-year senior Chase Ricke, transfer junior Gunnar Gundy, transfer sophomore Daron Bryden and redshirt sophomore Mason Dennis.

Ricke, the long-time backup to Gleason, has the most experience and best understanding of the up-tempo Hornet offense.

"You got to know what everyone is doing, getting people lined up, knowing exactly where you're going with the ball," Ricke said. "With four years of experience, I think I've grown a lot in that area."

Gundy transfers in from Oklahoma State, where he spent three years as a walk-on quarterback under his head coach father Mike Gundy. He comes to ESU with experience playing in Big 12 games, but has a lot to learn after not arriving on campus until the summer.

"Everyone's just treating me like a new player coming in, that's the way I want to be treated, I just want to be like the rest of the guys, and I came here to work hard," Gunnar Gundy said.

Bryden may have the most natural talent of any quarterback on the roster, transferring in after one season at FCS Stony Brook, but also has a tough offense to learn.

"Every day, I wake up, I tell myself to just control what I can control," Dryden said. "I think we got a great room of quarterbacks, allows me to go out and give my best every day."

Dennis is a Higgins recruit back for year two with the team. He has the least experience of the quarterbacks in the race, but he's been able to get reps with the first team through four practices.

"I was in the scout team last fall, so this is my first year running the offense," Dennis said. "I feel pretty good from the spring, I got pretty comfortable. It's still pretty new, hard going as fast as we go, but easy once you pick up on it."

Higgins says that top-to-bottom, this quarterback room is "as talented as it's ever been."

"They all have their strengths, they understand the system and they're getting better and that's a good problem to have," Higgins said.

Emporia State opens the season at home with rival Washburn on Thursday, August 29.