Skyler Howard Has Emerged As Clear Frontrunner To Be WVU's Starting Quarterback

The battle for the Mountaineers starting quarterback job seems to heading towards a conclusion. While preparing to practice at the Greenbrier on Saturday, Coach Holgorsen met with the media and announced that Skyler Howard is currently the "clear-cut No. 1 right now."

Here are some of Holgorsen's remarks from the pre-practice media session:

He is the clear-cut No. 1 right now. Not even close. He's a different kid. He's operating well. I sure hope I am not jinxing him right now. He is operating very well and looks great. His teammates believe in him. The coaches believe in him. He is doing well. All the other young kids are young kids. They are freshman and keep getting better. How good they get I don't know. We are going to keep repping the heck out of them and watch them and see how they progress.

He's stepped up. I said the same thing last year (wanting someone to step up and take the quarterback job). He just wasn't ready to do it. He's making plays. Just put it that way. He's making plays and people believe in him. That's what you look for in a quarterback.

Howard has been battling redshirt freshman William Crest throughout the spring drills (and to a lesser extent, freshman David Sills and Chris Chugunov) for the starting position.

Keep in mind that Holgorsen has not named Howard his starting quarterback for the season opener (September 5th against Georgia Southern) like he did with Clint Trickett last spring, but at this point it seems the job is his to lose.