PINE BLUFF -- Brandon Duncan emerged from a three-man quarterback carousel at Arkansas-Pine Bluff to start the final four games last season, including a season-ending victory over Mississippi Valley State.
His reward? A directive to win the job all over again.
Not an issue for Duncan, a junior from Roosevelt, N.Y., who said he knew the prolonged competition was a result of new offensive coordinator Ted White bringing in a slightly different system.
"It's about competing," Duncan said. "It's just part of the game."
Neither White nor Coach Monte Coleman were willing to rank the five quarterbacks who took snaps in Saturday's Black and Gold Game, but both said they liked what they saw in Duncan.
Duncan finished 8 of 14 passing for 100 yards and scored on a 6-yard run to lead the Gold Team to a 24-2 victory over the Black at Golden Lion Stadium.
Marcus Terrell, who started the first five games last year, completed 13 of 19 passes for 66 yards. Nolan Sorenson, who started two games last season, completed 3 of 7 passes for 22 yards.
LaEarle Patterson, who was 1 of 2 for 8 yards, and Roger Totten II, who was 1 for 5 for 10 yards and 1 interception, are still part of the race, coaches say.
"It's fun watching all five of them compete for the starting job," Coleman said. "And that's what they're doing, they're competing."
This spring was more about White and the quarterbacks getting acclimated while installing an up-tempo Spread system than it was picking a No. 1 quarterback.
Coleman fired offensive coordinator Anthony Jones after two seasons in December, and said he sought a coordinator who would run a system similar to what former coordinator Eric Dooley ran in 2011-2013, which included the 2012 SWAC championship season.
White, who spent the last five seasons at Howard, has set lofty goals for the Golden Lions.
"We want to be an explosive offense," said White, UAPB's fifth offensive coordinator under Coleman. "We want to run at least 100 plays a game. I think we took some steps toward that goal, but there's still a lot of work to be done."
Quarterback was perhaps UAPB's most inconsistent position in last year's 2-9 finish.
Terrell, Sorenson and Duncan each started games, but none completed better than 53.7 percent of their passes and all threw at least five interceptions. The Golden Lions' pass efficiency rating of 95.8 ranked ninth in the 10-team SWAC.
"We've got five young quarterbacks and I needed somebody to come in and develop them," Coleman said.
Duncan said he remembers most of the players being excited after their first meeting with White.
"With that type of offense, we're going to score a lot," Duncan said. "And that's what we need to do to win games in the SWAC, because it's always a shootout."
Dante McDonald ran 6 times for 54 yards and a touchdown to lead a crowded backfield and Terry Montgomery ran for 35 yards and 1 touchdown. McDonald likes the pace, too.
"We're running a play and then we're right back on them," he said.
Defensively, UAPB is replacing six starters from a unit that ranked ninth in the SWAC in scoring (38.4 points per game) and seventh in total defense (429.9). One positive Coleman saw was defensive end Nicholas Stroud, who had a sack and 2 ½ tackles for loss.
"That young man has a great motor," Coleman said. "We're still looking for a good rush end on the other side to complement him, but his upside and his future is good."
Sports on 04/24/2016