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Nall wins LSU quarterback job

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Posted: Thursday August 26, 1999 10:32 AM

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- It was Craig Nall by a nose in the three-player competition to become LSU's starting quarterback.

"I'm going to start Craig Nall at quarterback, and I'm going to do the best I can to get the other two guys game action," LSU coach Gerry DiNardo said following Tuesday's practice.

DiNardo did not name a No. 2 and said he will try to give an equal number of practice repetitions to sophomores Josh Booty and Rohan Davey.

"I'm not separating Ro and Josh," DiNardo said. "I'm going to keep them involved, keep them working. Craig will start, and every opportunity I get I'm going to try and get all three of them game experience."

DiNardo said he didn't foresee any depth chart changes unless an injury occurs.

Nall, a sophomore from Alexandria who beat out Davey for the No. 2 job behind Herb Tyler last August and started the season finale at Arkansas, looked the best in two scrimmages last week.

"I thought Craig was the most consistent since the beginning of spring to Saturday's scrimmage," DiNardo said.

Shortly before noon Tuesday, DiNardo took a jog -- a time in which he often makes key football decisions. He then met with each quarterback individually.

"He called me in there and my heart kind of skipped a beat," Nall said after practice. "I wasn't sure what he was going to say. Then I was just ecstatic. I can't really explain how I felt.

"He just came out and told me and then he went into depth why he picked me as the starter. He said I was the most consistent and that I deserved it.

"I think the other guys could probably tell you better than I can, but I feel I maintained a consistent level of play since last spring through this fall camp."

Nall proceeded to turn in one of his best practices of camp.

"It felt good," he said. "Probably the best I've looked. I wanted to make that a point to go out there and show that I earned that spot."

Barring injury, Nall will take the first snap against San Jose State in a Sept. 4 at Tiger Stadium.

"It really hasn't set in yet," he said. "This is what I was hoping for and it came true."

DiNardo was firm, however, about giving Davey and Booty playing opportunities during the season.

Booty, who paid a large sum of money early this year to get out of his Florida Marlins baseball contract just to come to LSU, politely waved off reporters following practice.

"Let me think about what I want to say," Booty said. "Maybe tomorrow."

Davey continued to express mixed emotions about his future at LSU.

"I mean right now it's not really in my mind to transfer or nothing like that," Davey said.

"I do still want to play and not just go in the game when the decision is already made. It [a transfer] is always possible, but I'm not really looking to do that right now, because I like it here. And I like the fans and everybody here and just how it's set up for football in general. Right now, I'm here."

 

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