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Breaking down the remaining Power Five quarterback competitions

With less than a week remaining until the FBS college football season kicks off, there are still several Power Five quarterback battles that have yet to be decided, including some involving possible College Football Playoff contenders.

Here’s a look at the starting quarterback battles that are still raging:

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FLORIDA STATE
Contenders: Sean Maguire, Everett Golson

Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher has been reluctant to name starting quarterback through fall camp and that didn’t change when camp practices ended Saturday.

“We’ll name it when we think it’s right,” Fisher said. “We’ll keep watching the film and evaluating.”

Maguire was the backup last season and the leader heading into fall camp, but that’s because Golson was a transfer from Notre Dame and had not yet worked with the Seminoles offense. Obviously Golson has picked things up or the starter wouldn’t be a question. However, as noted in the Orlando Sentinel, Maguire has been taking the first snaps at quarterback while Golson has been taking the second.

“I’ll name a quarterback when I’m ready,” Fisher said. “You can ask, I know you’ve got to ask. I have no problem with that. I know exactly what I’m going to do.”

It’s hard to believe you’d bring a QB like Golson — a QB that once led Notre Dame to the national title game — and not play him. Still, he did lose his starting spot at Notre Dame and had issues with turnovers a year ago. If Golson isn’t the best option, Fisher has to cut his losses. Maguire looked shaky in his only start (last season against Clemson), but that was a year ago and he’s probably gained some confidence knowing he was the frontrunner for the position.

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LOUISVILLE
Contenders: Will Gardner, Kyle Bolin, Reggie Bonnafon, Lamar Jackson

Coach Bobby Petrino said he’s in no hurry to name a starting quarterback and that all four competitors were in the running to start the season opener against Auburn on Saturday.

“They’ve all been competing, all been taking a lot of reps, all been working hard to get better at practice every day,” Petrino told “The John Stashower Show.” “They continue to do that, and we’re in no hurry to make a decision or announce a decision. We just want to figure out a way to get better each day in practice.”

This is a bit of gamesmanship by Petrino. He has to have an idea of his starter going into this season-defining game against Auburn, but he’s not willing to give Auburn the advantage of knowing whom that will be.

Gardner was the opening day starter a year ago, but suffered a season-ending knee injury later in the year. Still, he was the Cardinals’ best passer, leading the team with 1,669 yards and 12 passing touchdowns in 2014. Bonnafon, who started five games last season, is the team’s best running quarterback. However, he completed only 50.8 percent of his passes last year. Reports out of camp say that his passing and footwork have improved, and Bonnafon’s agility might be an asset with a rebuilt offensive line.

Bolin played in four games a year ago and started the Belk Bowl. He threw for 716 yards and four touchdowns on the year, but was most effective against Kentucky where he completed 21-of-31 passes for 381 yards and three touchdowns after replacing Bonnafon in the second quarter. He turned a 13-0 deficit into a 44-40 win.

Miller is definitely the longshot since he’s a true freshman, but the four-star recruit might be the best mixture of passing and running talent.

Petrino has said multiple times that there’s no advantage to naming a starting quarterback publically, so don’t expect that answer to come before kickoff.

KANSAS STATE
Contenders: Jesse Ertz, Joe Hubener, Alex Delton, Jonathan Banks

Coach Bill Snyder said during Monday’s Big 12 teleconference that he would name a starting quarterback on Tuesday, but Ertz appears to be the favorite to replace Jake Waters.

“It was very competitive throughout,” Snyder said. “I have a great deal of faith in all four of the youngsters. They worked hard. Those that had less experience in the program were diligent about learning our system and made amazing progress in that respect.”

Ertz has run with the first-team offense during practices and scrimmages and media reports say that he’s been the most accurate quarterback during fall camp.

Ertz played in four games as a redshirt freshman last season, but never threw a pass. He rushed for 46 yards on seven attempts.

TEXAS TECH
Contenders: Davis Webb, Patrick Mahomes

Texas Tech released a depth chart Sunday and had Webb and Mahomes listed as “or” starters.

Both players played a year ago. Webb started the first eight games before suffering an injury. He finished the season completing 61.2 percent of his passes with 24 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Mahomes stepped in and completed 56.8 percent of his passes for 16 touchdowns and four interceptions.

coach Kliff Kingsbury noted during a Chamber of Commerce event in Lubbock last week that he probably wouldn’t make the starter public until Saturday’s opener against San Houston State.

“We’ll try one guy and let them going at it on Saturday — there won’t be some announcement or anything like that — but both have pushed each other and it’s exciting to see their development,” Kingsbury told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.

While Kingsbury is being coy about his starting quarterback, popular opinion seems to point to Mahomes as the frontrunner.

MICHIGAN
Contenders: Shane Morris, Jake Rudock

There’s been rampant speculation about the contest between Morris and Ruddock, but Harbaugh has remained tight-lipped about the situation. Initially he said he didn’t want to announce his starter until he saw the depth chart of first-week opponent Utah, but that depth chart was released early Monday and still no public peek from the Wolverines.

Morris was probably best known as the quarterback who suffered a concussion and was sent back on the field to take a snap. But he was the Wolverines’ backup last season and completed just 35 percent of his passes for 128 yards and three interceptions.

Rudock started at Iowa last year and completed 61.7 percent of his passes for 2,436 yards, 16 touchdowns and five interceptions.

While there were a lot of bad things about Michigan last year, inconsistent quarterback play was definitely at the top of the list. One would have to think Rudock, who threw for more than 2,00 yards in both his seasons as starter at Iowa, would have to be the frontrunner, but according to Harbaugh, only the team knows that for sure.

"To the team, yeah (we'll make sure they know in time), (the competition's) something that's been ongoing and that takes place on the team,” Harbaugh said. “They'll know. ... and they do know that (the quarterback race has) been tight, close."

OHIO STATE
Contenders: J.T. Barrett, Cardale Jones

The derby for Ohio State’s starting quarterback position has been closely monitored by pretty much everyone all offseason and there’s still no clear-cut winner.

Coach Urban Meyer said Monday morning that the race was too close to call and that he wasn’t ready to announce a starter for Monday’s opener against Virginia Tech. Both Barrett and Jones have said they’d rather have one starter than share the role, but Meyer was adamant that he hasn’t ruled that out.

"We'll announce the starter when the first guy takes the snap," Meyer said during his Monday news conference. "It's still very close, both guys are performing very well.

"If it was different skill sets, we probably would (need to decide), but they're not. If you look at J.T.'s game plan when he was our quarterback and Cardale's, it was very similar. There's a chance they'll both play, as well, so that hasn't really (been a factor) with our mindset with a game plan on offense."

There’s no bad choice here for Urban Meyer, which is probably why he’s having such a tough time declaring a starter. Could he pick a quarterback based on the defense he’s facing? That would interesting.

In any case, this is a problem a lot of coaches on this list wish they had.

GEORGIA
Contenders: Brice Ramsey, Greyson Lambert, Faton Bauta

The search for the replacement for Hutson Mason might extend into the season.

Coach Mark Richt has been reluctant to name a starting quarterback during fall camp and he hinted that he might need to see how the competitors respond in games before he can make a decision.

“I'd like to know and have some peace about it; when I make a big decision, I like to have peace,” Richt said. “I don't have that right now.

”I'm a patient guy, but the clock is ticking. I got a feeling it will play out in the games.”

Ramsey was the backup last year and Lambert is a transfer from Virginia and both have led the first-team offense during scrimmaged this season (Bauta has been running with the twos). Ramsey was listed atop the depth chart in early July, but that was more because of his experience within the system than something definitive. Ramsey played in eight games last year and completed 24-for-39 passes for 333 yards and three touchdowns.

In his final year at Virginia, Lambert completed 59 percent of his passes for 1,632 yards 10 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

Initially, many thought Ramsey would be a shoo-in to fill the starting role, but Richt’s reluctance to name him the starter means Lambert has come along quickly in a month. Still, the fact that Georgia is an SEC title contender with no starting quarterback has to have many Bulldog fans a tad bit nervous.

VANDERBILT
Contenders: Johnny McCrary, Wade Freebeck

The winner of the competition between Johnny McCrary and Wade Freebeck will not be announced publically before the Thursday season opener against Western Kentucky, but coach Derek Mason remarked earlier in the year that one of the biggest things he learned from his first year as head coach was to pick one starting quarterback and stick with him.

The Commodores started four different quarterbacks last season and it led to more inconsistency than wins.

McCrary played in seven games last season and started the final five of the year. He completed 78-of-152 passes (51.3 percent) for 985 yards and nine touchdowns, which was the best among all Vandy quarterbacks.

Freebeck played in five games last year and started contests against UMass, Kentucky, Georgia and Charleston Southern and finished the season completing 34-of-72 passes for 376 yards and one touchdown.

Mason noted last week that the team knows its starting quarterback, but that he’ll wait for offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig to make that announcement official.

LSU
Contenders: Brandon Harris, Anthony Jennings

Coach Les Miles hasn’t spilled the beans regarding his starting quarterback, but he’s hinted at a frontrunner.

"I would not be surprised to see Brandon Harris take a first snap," Miles said. "Who takes the last snap and who is the starter at the back end of the season, I'm going to withhold my judgment."

Harris was awarded the starting role after Jennings was suspended following an arrest this past summer. Jennings was suspended from team activities, but after the district attorney decided not to pursue charges, Jennings was allowed to rejoin the team.

Miles has said Harris has not lost that starting role despite the fact that Jennings started 12 games last season.

"[Harris has] not lost his position," Miles said. "He's kind of put himself in that position based on a summer's body of work and he's continued that path."

Harris completed just 25-of-45 passes last season for 452 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions. Jennings completed 111-of-227 passes for 1,611 yards for 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

However, Jennings didn’t win LSU a lot of games last season (the defense did that) and if the Tigers want to be an SEC contenders and a national contender, it will need great improvement from its quarterback spot.

Alabama
Contenders: Cooper Bateman, Alec Morris, Jake Coker, Blake Barnett, David Cornwell

It’s been awhile since Alabama has entered a game week without naming a starting quarterback. Monday’s depth chart release named all five competitors as possible starters, though coach Nick Saban did acknowledge that Bateman, Morris, and Coker have been rotating first-team reps.

“I would like somebody to win the team over which may not happen until they play,” he said. “When you have guys that haven’t played before, that’s the case.”

The search for a starting quarterback has caused Saban considerable angst. He said he would have loved to have named a starter months ago, but that none of the quarterbacks have emerged as a consistent frontrunner.

And Saban hasn’t ruled out playing multiple quarterbacks until one can separate himself from the pack.

“If both guys can play well, and both guys can do well, not necessarily,” he said. “I don’t necessarily remember saying we were going to play multiple quarterbacks, but maybe I did say it. A lot of people have had success playing multiple quarterbacks.”

Coker was definitely the favorite heading into this season because he played backup to Blake Sims a year ago. However, similar to a year ago, Coker has not yet entrenched himself as a viable SEC starter. Cromwell drew praise in the spring, but has apparently yielded to Bateman and Morris.

While we don’t know who that starter is, we do know that Saban has a pretty good track record of picking the right guy even if that goes against public opinion.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter!

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