Holton Ahlers Named Starter at QB On Saturday Against #9 UCF
Scottie Montgomery named true freshman quarterback Holton Ahlers as ECU's starting quarterback as the Pirates brace for top ten UCF Saturday night in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
Ahlers threw for 137 yards on 11 of 18 passing. He threw for one touchdown on a 13-yard strike to Trevon Brown and ran for another in the fourth quarter of Houston's 42-20 bombardment of ECU last Saturday night. He also rushed for 46 yards to lead the team in that category.
Montgomery said on Monday during a short twelve minute press conference that he wants to "make sure that the pressure of the start doesn't get to him," so he won't be allowed to take questions this week from the press.
The third year ECU head coach said Ahlers was really focused Sunday night even before he got the news of the change at quarterback. He took the first snap of the practice and the other quarterbacks were not pleased with the change, but that is something Montgomery sees as a positive.
"He knows a hundred percent of what we need for this week and that's enough for me," Montgomery said on Monday, "Next week he will know even more and the week after that even more."
When asked is Ahlers will have a short leash if things don't go well, Montgomery said Holton will have no leash.
Montgomery labeled McKenzie Milton as "the ultimate general of a college football team."
Milton's offense ranks first in the league in total offense at 555.5 yards a game and second in scoring at 45.7 points per contest. Entering Monday, Milton has already been named AAC conference player of the week three times this season.
He has completed 119 of 200 passes for 1,797 yards and 16 touchdowns. The Knights don't have anyone in the top ten in rushing.
The Knights have won 19 straight games and has gone 23-0 as a tanked team since the formation of the league. They enter ranked 10th in the Associate Press poll and are 9th in the Coach's Poll.
Catch Coach Montgomery's Monday press conference in its entirety here as UCF week begins here on PirateIllustrated.com.
