THE CHICAGO NATIVE TALKS WINNING THE STARTING JOB
(KVRR/Nick Couzin)
FARGO, N.D. — After not getting to play in the spring as a transfer from Virginia Tech, Quincy Patterson is going to see plenty of the the field this fall as North Dakota State’s starting quarterback.
It was during fall camp where Patterson really started to feel comfortable running the offense.
“Taking one reps all of fall camp got me to where I needed to be. Right now I’m definitely at 100 percent,” Patterson said. “There are still some things I’m not necessarily sure of but when it comes to game planning it’s a lot easier because you’re only seeing three defensive looks and against our defense we see the playbook all of fall camp.”
Head coach Matt Entz said what really stood out about Patterson was the ability to use his legs and that was something the offense really lacked in at that position in the spring.
“That’s one thing relatively easy for me. Running the ball,” Patterson said. “I mean if you couldn’t tell, I’m a lot bigger than most people so it just comes naturally.”
While the ability to run stood out the most, it was improving the his passing accuracy that led to Patterson winning the job.
“It comes with knowing the offense and knowing what are defense is doing,” Patterson said. “If I’m unsure of something, accuracy will fall. Being really confident in the playbook allowed my accuracy to get to where it needed to be.”
When the Chicago native finally puts that green and yellow jersey on this Saturday, there is one part of his gameday mood he wants bison fans to know about.
“If you see me on the sideline joking around or not being as serious as some people are, don’t take that as me not being zeroed in or anything like that,” Patterson said. “It’s my personality and who I am. If I’m not doing that, there is probably something wrong.”
Patterson said what he’s looking forward to most is running through the helmet pregame.
