Former Michigan State football QB gets first start at new program

Plenty of former Michigan State football players have found new homes in recent years and one of the most notable was Katin Houser.

The former starting quarterback for the Spartans found a new home at East Carolina this past offseason and he was expecting to be the starter from day one. Unfortunately, he didn’t win the starting job after falling out of fall camp. This news surprised a lot of fans but he finally got the call in Week 8 as his Pirates faced off against No. 23 Army on the road.

While he hasn’t been very effective this season in limited action with a sub-50 percent completion rate, Mike Houston and the coaching staff decided to make the change under center after a shaky start to the season from Jake Garcia who had eight touchdowns to 12 interceptions.

Houser was just 14-for-31 with no touchdowns and an interception heading into his first start with the Pirates on Saturday and didn’t quite get off to the best start against the Black Knights, completing 10-of-17 passes for 60 yards and a pick in the first half, trailing 24-0.

A strong second half could help him solidify his position as the new starter, but more of the same from the first half would reopen that quarterback battle which he was hoping to avoid.

Losing the starting job to a guy with eight touchdown passes to 12 interceptions is unacceptable, but it’s still early.

I would assume that Houser likely gets the rest of this Army game and one more to prove himself and if he can’t show that he’s a more effective and efficient passer than Garcia, the switch might be made again before November.

Houser is the third former Michigan State football quarterback to get a start at a different program this season, following Payton Thorne (Auburn) and Sam Leavitt (Arizona State).