WKU ATHLETICS

News Release

BOWLING GREEN — With the unfortunate news from head coach Tyson Helton’s Monday press conference that starting quarterback Steven Duncan would be out indefinitely following surgery to his injured left foot, the WKU Football team moves forward during its bye week to figure out who it will be to replace Duncan under center.

The redshirt junior from Charleston, S.C., completed 70-of-119 attempts for 790 yards passing, with five touchdowns and four interceptions in the Hilltoppers’ first three games.

“Obviously, it’s disappointing, but it’s part of the game,” Helton said. “It’s a little unsettling because you’ve played three games with a guy, he has had the game experience, so now you’re going to have to put a guy or two out there who hasn’t had game experience [this year].”

He continued: “But I’ve always said I’ve liked the quarterback room, Coach Ellis does a great job with those guys, so matter who it is they’ll be ready to go. I’m not overly nervous about the situation.”

During fall camp, it was essentially a two-man race between Duncan and graduate senior transfer from Arkansas, Ty Storey. Now, it will be between Storey, redshirt sophomore Davis Shanley and redshirt freshman Kevaris Thomas to compete for the job.

Storey started nine games for the Razorbacks in 2018, completing 143-of-250 attempts for 1,560 yards passing, with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Shanley saw substantial playing time in five games in 2018 for the Hilltoppers, completing 96-of-141 attempts for 942 yards, with three touchdowns and two interceptions.

Meanwhile, Thomas appeared in three games as a true freshman before redshirting his rookie campaign, rushing six times for 18 yards and one touchdown – a four-yard score at Charlotte.

“You know when we named Steven it was a tight race between Ty and him,” offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Bryan Ellis said. “Experience is a huge factor, with Ty and Shanley having game experience – but don’t count out KT. A lot of teams would be lucky to be in this situation when their starting quarterback goes down.

He continued: “My job is to get every person in my room ready to play, then it’s Coach Helton’s job to decide who gets to run out there. I’m going to get all three of them ready to play and we will sit down and decide.”