PINE BLUFF -- Nolen Sorensen accompanied Coach Monte Coleman to Southwestern Athletic Conference media day last month and Brandon Duncan's figure is pictured on the front of pocket-sized schedule cards distributed around town touting the upcoming football season.
Both Sorensen and Duncan are quarterbacks, but neither incidence means one has the edge over the other in Arkansas-Pine Bluff's ongoing quarterback competition.
Need for improvement
• Arkansas-Pine Bluff is going through a five-man quarterback race during fall camp. The players are the same from last year, but Coach Monte Coleman is hoping new offensive coordinator Ted White’s up-tempo, Spread system will create better results than last year, when quarterback play was one of its biggest issues.
PLAYER;C-A-I;PCT.;YARDS;TD;AVG/G
Brandon Duncan;80-149-8;53.7;1,027;8;146.7
Marcus Terrell;54-106-8;50.9;557;3;11.4
Nolan Sorensen;38-102-5;37.3;479;1;79.8
TOTAL;172-357-21;48.2;2,053;12;186.6
"We're going until it feels right," said Ted White, UAPB's first-year offensive coordinator.
That could mean all the way up until the week of the Sept. 3 season opener at Tennessee State. And that's fine for Coleman, whose team's struggle to find a consistent quarterback was a glaring deficiency in a 2-9 finish in 2015.
Coleman said he would rather get the decision right than go through another year like 2015, when Marcus Terrell, Sorensen and Duncan each took turns starting games.
"We were scrambling to try and fine that one guy," Coleman said. "And that's what we hope to do, is find that man, and go with him."
Coleman and White said they liked what they saw from the five quarterbacks coming out of spring. LaEarl Patterson and Roger Totten III are being considered for the job along with the three with starting experience.
Duncan started the final four games of last season, including a season-ending victory over Mississippi Valley State. Coleman said he's noticed a more confident Duncan, who said he understands the need to win the job in camp.
"Competition just makes us better," he said. "Nolen, he's a great quarterback, he makes me better every day. We watch film together and we're great friends and may the best man win."
Sorensen said he hasn't watched film of any game last season. He said there wasn't much to gain from reliving a season in which he completed 37.3 percent of his passes with 5 interceptions, and the quarterbacks combined to complete 48.2 percent with 21 interceptions to just 12 touchdowns.
This is a new year, with a new coordinator and a new system, which Coleman and Duncan said is similar to what former coordinator Eric Dooley implemented in 2011-2013.
"I learned a ton last year," Sorensen said. "It was a very maturing year for me. I don't know if that's the correct way to say it, but I definitely matured a lot through those experiences. When you go through adversity, you've got two options: Sink or swim."
Sorensen said he is not trying to get caught up in the competition with Duncan and others. Sorensen and Duncan say they're friends off the field -- they threw passes with each other during the summer, they eat lunch together and spend weekends together. Coleman said that can only help whichever quarterback eventually rises to the top. He's been in football long enough, as both player and coach, to see quarterback competitions split even the best of teams.
"The thing that's most glaring is that they're pushing each other, verbally. The guys messes up, they're correcting and pushing," Coleman said. "As a coach, that's refreshing."
The Golden Lions, ninth in the SWAC in points (19.5 per game) and eighth in yards (317.0) last year, have a system they like and at least one quarterback among the five on the roster. Now they just need to pick the right one. That's up to White, who Coleman hired away from Howard University because of his ability to teach quarterbacks.
White called his up-tempo offense "quarterback friendly," but it requires one to make quick, correct decisions. He's got a few more weeks to make what is likely UAPB's most important preseason decision.
"No matter if you're in Pee-Wee league, middle school or high school, the quarterback position is very important," White said. "Whoever stands out, whoever that guy is who will make correct decisions and lead our football team to go get some wins will be it."
Sports on 08/10/2016