Easton Stick or Taryn Christion? Taryn Christion or Easton Stick?
The debate was a passionate one from 2016-2018 and even parts of 2015. The two quarterbacks from rivals North Dakota State and South Dakota State broke school, Missouri Valley Football Conference and FCS records in 3.5 years of starting. NDSU's Stick threw for 8,693 yards and 88 touchdowns along with 2,523 yards rushing and 41 touchdowns. He went 49-3 as a starter, breaking the all-time wins record in FCS history (set by former Bison QB Brock Jensen from 2010-2013). SDSU's Christion passed for 11,535 yards and 104 touchdowns while adding 1,515 yards rushing and 26 touchdowns. Christion finished with a 33-11 record as SDSU's starting quarterback.
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The two are the most accomplished quarterbacks in both program's histories. So who gets to replace these legends? It looks like it'll be two redshirt freshmen who have been labeled the "heir apparent" to their predecessor since signing with their respective schools. And so a brand new debate begins on who's the better quarterback as SDSU's J'Bore Gibbs and NDSU's Trey Lance take over for programs stocked with national championship-quality talent.
Gibbs is a 6-foot-3, 230-pound dual-threat quarterback from Chicago, Illinois. Lance is a 6-foot-3, 221-pound dual-threat quarterback from Marshall, Minnesota.
Gibbs had FBS interest from Western Michigan, Purdue, Northern Illinois and Illinois and was offered by Eastern Michigan.
Lance had FBS interest from Minnesota and was offered by Western Michigan, Northern Illinois and Boise State. SDSU also offered him.
Lance was named NDSU's starter last week. He appeared in two games last year while maintaining his redshirt, attempting and completing just one pass and also showed his explosiveness on touchdown runs of 44 and 23 yards.
While no official announcement has been made, all indications from SDSU's preseason camp is Gibbs is the guy. His first college game experience comes this Thursday at Minnesota.
When the Jacks and the Bison landed these two in their 2018 recruiting class, the belief in Brookings and Fargo is they found their future "franchise" quarterback. Now it's the start of the Gibbs era at SDSU and the Lance era at NDSU.
J'Bore Gibbs or Trey Lance? Trey Lance or J'Bore Gibbs?
It's a debate that will be argued along Interstate 29 for the next four years.
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