Former Michigan State QB Katin Houser gets first start with ECU

When the coaching change was made at Michigan State this past offseason, a lot of players were faced with tough decisions: to stay or to go?

The entire quarterback room, including Sam Leavitt, Noah Kim, and Katin Houser, decided to hit the transfer portal and look for a new home elsewhere, especially after Jonathan Smith looked to bring his quarterback with him to East Lansing.

Leavitt went to Arizona State where he ended up beating out some really impressive quarterbacks for the starting job -- he is, unfortunately, injured. Kim didn't win his starting job at Coastal Carolina this offseason which was a disappointing development. And Houser also lost his fall starting quartebrack battle at East Carolina with fellow former four-star Jake Garcia.

Kim is still the backup at Coastal Carolina but Houser earned his first start with the Pirates on Saturday afternoon at Army.

Unfortunately, the Black Knights have proven to be a pretty tough opponent as they took a 24-0 lead over Houser and the Pirates at halftime and even extended to 31-0 early in the second half. At the half, Houser was just 10-for-17 with 60 yards and an interception.

Houser replaced Garcia in the starting lineup after his predecessor had just eight touchdowns to 12 interceptions. The former Spartan did throw his first touchdown of the season in the third quarter on a 53-yard pass and catch by his receiver to make it 31-7 Army.

As long as Houser shows progress throughout the game, he should be back as the QB1 next week, too. A good development for the former Spartan.