Former Spartans QB Failed To Earn Starting Job on New Team

Katin Houser was one of three Michigan State quarterbacks to leave the Green and White and enter the transfer portal after the arrival of Jonathan Smith.

Houser took his talents to East Carolina of the American Athletic Conference, a mid-major and a step down in competition than what he would face in the Big Ten Conference. The former four-star product of the prestigious St. John Bosco football powerhouse would surely make his name for the Pirates.

Not quite.

“We pulled the guys in Thursday and told them that Jake Garcia will be the starting quarterback,” head coach Mike Houston said, per MLive.com. “Katin handled it with extreme class and character, which you would expect him to. They both have had great preseasons and they both are capable of going out and playing at a very high level and we’re very, very fortunate to have both of them.”

Houser was redshirted as a freshman in 2022 and he stepped in last season as the starter in replacement for Noah Kim. Houser went 112 for 191 and six touchdowns to five interceptions with 1,130 passing yards. He also had two rushing touchdowns.

Stephen Igoe of 247Sports spoke with Houser after the announcement and said Houser showed a positive attitude.

“I talked with Houser for about a minute off the record upon his entry to practice and he seems to be in a good head space, all things considered. He had a sharp day with the number twos on Saturday in the scrimmage and seems determined to keep showing he’s worthy of the job through practice,” Igoe wrote.

Houser was a decorated quarterback at Bosco. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound was a finalist in the Elite 11 quarterback camp and a consensus Top 15 quarterback in the 2022 class (across Rivals, 247Sports, and On3). Houser helped Bosco to the No. 7 ranking in MaxPreps’ national rankings.

The Spartans are comfortable with their quarterback situation. Sophomore transfer Aidan Chiles has all of the hype and looks the part to be the signal-caller of the future for Smith. Tommy Schuster, another transfer, will be a valuable asset as a backup.

The two freshman quarterbacks, Alessio Milivojevic and Ryland Jesse have earned positive feedback from the Spartans staff so far.

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