It seems fairly obvious that Will Rogers will be under center come opening day when the Bulldogs take on Louisiana Tech on Sept. 4 at Davis Wade Stadium. The battle for what would appear to be the backup spot might be the juicier story at fall camp.

Already, there have been a few surprises.

Jack Abraham, who dominated the spring game, is injured. Chance Lovertich, another transfer, has emerged as the top threat to Rogers. So said Mike Leach in a recent meeting with reporters.

Why does the backup matter so much?

SEC QBs tend to miss games. That’s why. LSU just lost what was perceived to be their starter in Myles Brennan, not once but now twice, and it will be up to backup Max Johnson to step in and lead those bounce-back efforts in Baton Rouge. And although Brennan’s injury did not occur on the football field, the fact remains that the backup quarterback in this conference is as important a position as any on the team.

That player is one play, or in the case of LSU one freak accident, from taking center stage in the most prestigious spotlight in college football. It happened on the opposite side with Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa, injured in a game with Mississippi State, and it hasn’t been that long ago when the Bulldogs’ own Nick Fitzgerald suffered a horrifying injury in the 2017 Egg Bowl.

It was just last season that KJ Costello’s head injury necessitated Rogers’ arrival as the Bulldogs’ signal-caller.

With that in mind, we take a look at not only Rogers, but the rest of the quarterback room as Leach and the Bulldogs prepare for the upcoming 2021 season.

In Rogers, the Bulldogs have experience under center. He played in 9 games last season as a true freshman, starting the final 6, and at times looked like a veteran under center completing 69 percent of his passes last season, which ranked 3rd in the conference behind only Alabama’s Mac Jones (77.4) and Ole Miss’ Matt Coral (70.9).

His 26.5 completions per game average led the league, and his 239 total completions for the season ranked 3rd in the SEC. Rogers threw for a total of 1,976 yards and 11 TDs in the 2020 season.

That’s certainly not to say there isn’t any room for improvement. Quite the opposite, Rogers tossed 7 interceptions, tied for 5th-most in the conference, and his QB rating of 123.49 ranked 10th.

But after being thrown into the SEC fire last season, Rogers will begin to reap the benefits of having been there before. Already catching the eye of Leach and showing signs in spring, summer and now fall camp of more consistent play than a year ago at this time, Rogers is settling in as a true and worthy SEC quarterback.

“I think leadership, he’s come a long, long ways as far as elevating the play of others,” Leach said. “He seems more consistent obviously than he was starting as a true freshman without a spring, but there’s plenty of progress to make. Some of it is getting tuned in with your receivers too.”

A trio of transfers vie for that all-important backup spot, and with one more opportunity to exhibit their skills before the fall season arrives and possibly unseat Rogers as the starter, although at this point that seems highly unlikely.

Lovertich, a transfer from South Alabama, has begun to separate himself from the rest of the healthy backup candidates. Leach praised him after a recent practice.

Lovertich completed 9-of-13 passes for 144 yards and 2 TDs, playing for both teams in the annual Maroon and White game. Another transfer, Jack Kristofek, was not as effective, completing just 2-of-8 passes for 31 yards and a pick.

Abraham, a redshirt senior from Oxford, started for the White team in the Spring Game and was most impressive, completing 23-of-34 passes for 162 yards and 2 touchdowns. He started 27 games in 3 seasons at Southern Miss and led the nation with a 73.1% completion percentage in 2018.

As spring ball concluded, most expected the QB battle to come down to Rogers vs. Abraham. It hasn’t played out that way so far.

All we know about Abraham’s status is that he’s injured. Mississippi State doesn’t elaborate on such things, but most expect Abraham to return at some point.

It should be interesting to follow fall camp to see if Rogers continues to solidify himself as the team’s starter and leader, or if one of the transfers can win that job. One way or another it will be imperative that the backup puts himself in a position to step up if the call is made.

“I hope that it’s very competitive and we’re going to give them the reps to try and evaluate and see when they separate themselves,” Leach said.