Tay Bender named Southeast Missouri State's starting quarterback

Southeast Missouri State junior transfer Tay Bender will be the Redhawks' starting quarterback when the team opens its season against Missouri on Sept. 5, in Columbia, Missouri.

Bender, who secured the No. 1 quarterback jersey midway through spring ball after joining the team as a mid-year transfer from Iowa Western Community College and did not relinquish it throughout fall camp, was named Southeast's starter following Thursday's practice.

Bender beat out Jackson graduate and Southeast freshman Dante Vandeven, who was promoted to the No. 2 jersey at the beginning of the week, and senior Alex Niznak for the starting nod.

"Who can move our offense this week on a consistent basis?" offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Sherard Poteete said of what the deciding factor would be following Wednesday's practice. Thursday's practice was not open to the media for interviews.

"They've all had their good plays and they've all had some bad plays," Poteete said. "Who can be consistent throughout the week? And then just to add with those three guys -- I mean, how fortunate are we to have those three? Not every coach in American gets to have those type of guys."

Bender earned the job left by one-year starter Kyle Snyder, who completed his senior season last year.

Snyder broke Southeast's single-season record for total offense with 3,243 yards, throwing for 2,582 yards and 23 touchdowns and rushing for 661 yards and nine touchdowns.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Bender graduated early from Southwest High School in Lincoln, Nebraska, to enroll at Kansas State and participated in spring drills with the second-team offense in 2012. He left Kansas State prior to the start of the season and later transferred to Iowa Western in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

The Reivers compiled a record of 22-2 during his two-year career and he led them to the National Junior College Athletic Association national championship game as a sophomore.

Iowa Western only loss of the season came in the title game.

Bender completed 58.9 percent of his passes for 1,912 yards and 25 touchdowns while rushing for 184 yards and four touchdowns on 82 carries last season.

"The whole thing at the quarterback position is you have to play smart, you have to get the ball to our weapons and not turn the football over," Poteete said at the team's media day on Aug. 16. "If we can do that as a quarterback then maybe on some third downs, hey, let's make a play or two. But with the weapons that we have with Paul McRoberts, Peter Lloyd, DeMichael Jackson, Tremane McCullough, we just need to get the ball in their hands and let them go do their thing."

Southeast coach Tom Matukewicz had hoped to have settled on the Redhawks' quarterback by their scrimmage last Saturday, but stressed that, like the entire team, the quarterbacks weren't playing consistent enough.

He put each of them through more quarterback-driven situations like third-down, red-zone and two-minute offense prior to making his choice on Thursday.

"You want to see a quarterback when he does have a bad day, 'Hey, how's tomorrow going to be?' Poteete said at media day. "We talk constantly about having a short-term memory. I mean, you might throw three, four, five, whatever picks in a row -- we always use that scenario, we never want that to happen but, hey, if you do are you going to be out there ready to go the next series?'"