P.J. Fleck on Gophers quarterbacks: 'We're going to play both'; Conor Rhoda, Demry Croft tied in QB race

Through spring practice in April and training camp the past 2½ weeks, Demry Croft and Conor Rhoda have been competing to be the Gophers' starting quarterback, with little separation in quality of play between the two.

Coach P.J. Fleck kept waiting for one to pull clearly ahead — and stay ahead — of the other to be the starting QB on his first Minnesota team.

That didn't happen, so on Thursday, Fleck announced that Croft and Rhoda would be co-starters.

"We're gonna play 'em both. That's my decision," Fleck said after the team's final open practice of training camp. "In terms of a starter, they're both the starter."

Fleck didn't say which QB actually will take the first snap under center for the Aug. 31 season opener against Buffalo at TCF Bank Stadium, but he offered a detailed explanation of reasoning to pick two instead of one.

First and foremost, neither Rhoda, a fifth-year senior, nor Croft, a sophomore who redshirted last year, has extensive game experience.

"If I was to tell you that I knew exactly how those quarterbacks are going to play in a game, that's a guess," said Fleck, who on Tuesday hinted his decision might not come down to one QB.

Neither has seized the job with superior play over the other in camp, and that pushed Fleck toward a two-QB system, even though he said earlier in training camp that he would prefer that one would win the job.

"Every time I think I see one nudging the other out, the other one closed the gap and passed him." Fleck said. "And they've continued to do that. That tells me this late in training camp that both of 'em deserve to play."

Fleck also declared, "This is not a controversy."

The coach delivered the news to both QBs at the same time Thursday, and they were thrilled.

"It was awesome news," said Rhoda, a Cretin-Derham Hall product from Eagan, "and it gives us the best chance to win for the team."

The rigors of the schedule and the need to develop a backup also swayed Fleck toward picking two instead of one. "If we think we can go through the Big Ten and not need two quarterbacks at some point, I think we're crazy to think that," he said. "We're gonna need 'em."

Fleck, who used a two-QB system in two of his four seasons as Western Michigan's coach, wasn't sure yet about the breakdown in snaps between Croft and Rhoda but said both will run the same system. He also said he felt there is plenty of time before both the opener against Buffalo and the Sept. 9 game at Oregon State for both QBs to get sufficient practice reps to continue improving.

"It's a compliment to them that they've put me in a position [of using two QBs] that I haven't done in a while," Fleck said.

Rhoda and Croft are used to competing for a job. They vied for the backup spot to Mitch Leidner last year, with Rhoda winning it and Croft redshirting.

"This isn't the first time we've gone through this," Rhoda said. "… It's really a relationship that we're comfortable with. We bring out the best in each other."