A familiar figure will be at the helm of Cumberland鈥檚 offense at 1 p.m. today when the Phoenix open the 2024 football season at Missouri Baptist in St. Louis.
Junior Luke Holloway won the preseason battle to retain his job of two years as Cumberland鈥檚 starting quarterback as Coach Tim Mathis and Offensive Coordinator Bobby Brown opened the position. He fended off challenges from former Lebanon High star Jaylen Abston, who transferred from Murray State, and last year鈥檚 backup Zach Holdsclaw.
鈥(Holloway鈥檚) done really, really well and he stepped up to it,鈥 Mathis said Wednesday. 鈥淚t was an open competition and he stepped up to it and won the position.
鈥淲e got two very, very capable guys behind him, that鈥檚 for sure鈥 There鈥檚 going to be times the other guys are going to have to play.鈥
Missouri Baptist, of the Heart of the Midwest Athletic Conference, went 2-8 last season. But the Spartans have a majority of their players returning and both coordinators. Cumberland is coming off a 5-5 campaign. Each team swapped three game videos from last season.
鈥淚t ought to be a good first test for us,鈥 Mathis said. 鈥淥n defense, they鈥檙e similar to our defense. They run a 4-2-5 defense. They don鈥檛 have great athletes in the secondary so they play zone coverage. They do have one very good defensive back (and) they play man with him and kind of play zone with everybody else. Offensively, they鈥檙e similar to us in that they鈥檙e a spread RPO team.
鈥淥bviously, we鈥檙e going to have some wrinkles and they鈥檙e probably going to have some wrinkles that we鈥檝e never seen, so it is kind of up in the air. Both teams really don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going on. But both teams have both coordinators coming back, so a lot shouldn鈥檛 change.鈥
Asked if the Phoenix have arrived at Week 1 healthy, Mathis said, 鈥淔or the most part.
鈥淲e got some guys that are banged up that we might not have. The one thing that has helped us this year is our depth鈥 We鈥檙e not going to have as much rotation as we would if everybody was healthy. But we鈥檝e got some guys who are going be out a week or two with muscle injuries and shoulder injuries. They鈥檙e not season-ending. They鈥檙e in the rehab process. They just won鈥檛 be ready for Week 1. It hurts our depth a little bit but we have guys in there we鈥檙e very, very comfortable with.鈥
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