Washington coach Chris Petersen has his starting quarterback. For now.
Petersen announced on Friday that redshirt sophomore Jeff Lindquist will start the team's opener at Hawaii next week.
The 6-foot-3, 246-pound Lindquist is a Seattle native who played his high school ball at Mercer Island High, which isn't too far from Husky Stadium. He was an Elite 11 quarterback his senior year and saw limited action last season for Washington as a backup to Keith Price. He has not attempted a pass at the collegiate level, though. He rushed twice for 10 yards last season.
"Jeff Lindquist will start. We'll go with him and see how he does," Petersen told the media after practice on Friday. "I think we were splitting hairs trying to figure this out. Both (Lindquist and Troy Williams) have different skill sets they bring to the table, but at this point we feel like we need to give Jeff the nod and let him roll, let him get some things done and let him go from there."
While Petersen gave the nod to Lindquist over redshirt freshman Troy Williams for the team's first game, he seemed to make it clear that the quarterback race is not over.
Redshirt sophomore Cyler Miles was suspended for the opener after being connected to two on-campus assaults in post-Super Bowl incidents (he was not charged in either case). He was also suspended for spring practice following the incidents, but has been back with the team for fall camp and will still be given a chance to earn the starting job after the Hawaii game.
"(Miles) will definitely be a factor," Petersen said on Friday.
Miles (6-4, 225) was a highly touted prep quarterback out of Colorado who played in eight games in 2013. He started one game when Price was out with an injury last season and has the most experience on the roster after throwing for 418 yards and four touchdowns.
Washington is ranked No. 20 in the College Football 24/7 Power Rankings and should have plenty of time to figure out its quarterback situation with a favorable non-conference slate that includes Hawaii, Eastern Washington, Illinois and Georgia State before Stanford travels to Seattle in late September for the Huskies' Pac-12 opener.
You can follow Bryan Fischer on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.
