Warriors, Huskies facing quarterback quandaries

Their budgets and head-coaching records are almost as far apart as their campuses, but today, Hawaii’s Norm Chow and Washington’s Chris Petersen have more in common than just their Aug. 30 season opener.

Neither one has a No. 1 quarterback exiting spring practice.

After 14 days of spring practices and a spring game of sorts, we have two no-decisions.

It is 120 days before they kick off against each other in Aloha Stadium, and for each the choice of a QB is, well, a quandary.

Or, so they maintain.

UH announced its "post-spring depth chart" Thursday, and the starting quarterback is officially listed as, "Ikaika Woolsey or Jeremy Higgins."

Just hours before Chow punted on the choice of a starter heading into the fall, Petersen did the same on a Pac-12 Conference coaches teleconference, saying "so our quarterback situation coming into fall camp … I don’t know."

And if things remain up in the air now, as they suggest, it could get more interesting come the start of camp in August, especially at Manoa, where the Rainbow Warriors opened as 211/2 -point underdogs.

At UH, there is the potential for a long jam of candidates to replace Sean Schroeder. A healthy Taylor Graham could re-enter the mix, and Beau Reilly, the one-time Colorado State recruit coming off a church mission, becomes eligible after taking in the spring strictly as a sidelines observer. Max Wittek of USC, or another of the four-year transfers currently talking to UH, could be on hand as well.

Perhaps not since June Jones was stockpiling quarterbacks in bulk has there been potential for such a wide assortment.

Meanwhile at UW, Jeff Lindquist and Troy Williams were the only two quarterbacks in action in the spring and split time.

Lindquist, a 6-foot-3 240-pounder, had a mop-up role in 2013, playing in three games without throwing a pass. Williams, a 6-2, 199-pound dual threat, redshirted as a freshman. Neither seemed to be able to create separation.

"We don’t have (a No.) 1," said Petersen, who rarely faced that problem at Boise State. "I think it’s always easier when you do, when you’ve got a guy returning, a starter or you got a clear-cut guy that you really feel like he’s the guy. But I think both those guys made a case for themselves in spring ball. And so we’re still kinda wide open on this deal."

But don’t get the idea that Petersen is sleepless in Seattle. Not when Cyler Miles, the heir apparent to three-year starter Keith Price until being suspended in February for a violation of team rules, is a phone call away.

Miles, who played in eight games in 2013, including the bowl victory over Brigham Young, remains on suspension but could be brought back in August. He was not charged in an assault but wide receiver Damore’ea Stringfellow pleaded guilty to two counts of fourth-degree assault.

For the moment, while UH and UW find themselves on a collision course with decisions to make, the one in Manoa comes with the most urgency.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.