Mick Garry

Argus Leader

VERMILLION -- There are undoubtedly some reputable football folks out there who could look at what Chris Streveler has done at South Dakota this season and wonder whether the program he left might have ultimately been wise to keep him around at quarterback.

First the history:

In the fall of 2014, Streveler was the backup quarterback as a second-year freshman for the University of Minnesota behind Mitch Leidner. Streveler played in five games that year and got one start, completing one pass in seven attempts while running for 161 yards in 18 carries in a 24-7 win over San Jose State.

The next year he was encouraged to move outside the pocket, so to speak. With good size and excellent speed, he was shuffled off to receiver with Demry Croft, a true freshman, now backing up the veteran Leidner, who would go on to start 41 games at quarterback for the Gophers from 2013-16.

After participating in spring practice at Minnesota in 2015, again primarily as a receiver, the Chicago area native decided to seek out an opportunity to play elsewhere, eventually picking USD with the assurance he'd get a shot at earning the quarterback job.

More:Streveler puts on a show in No. 4 USD's rout of Indiana State

This season Minnesota (0-3, 3-3) has used Conor Rhoda, a fifth-year senior who began his career as a walk-on with the Gophers and was behind Streveler on the depth chart when the pair were both at quarterback in 2014, and Croft, who redshirted last year while Rhoda backed up the senior Leidner. Together the pair have completed 77 of 141 passes for 1,065 yards with five interceptions for a team still looking to win its first conference game for first-year coach P.J. Fleck.

While fans of FCS football in the region can cite notable examples where being a major-college program with 85 scholarships is not enough in itself to assure victory against a Missouri Valley Conference team and its 63 scholarships, a great percentage of the time there remains no doubt that the Big 10 is a different level.

So to say the Gophers got as good a look as they needed at Streveler’s potential to help them at quarterback – this even though it’s obvious now that the program was not overflowing with talent at that spot at the time – is a defensible position.

But asserting that solely because he’s playing for an FCS program means he’d be overwhelmed as an every-Saturday Big 10 starting quarterback is a logistical stretch. Comparing stats is largely meaningless in this situation given all the variables, but at the same time, the Gophers are getting so-so production out of guys Streveler had as teammates.

And meanwhile, the second-year Coyote is a two-time national player-of-the-week through six games with 1,865 yards passing, 448 rushing and a combined 25 touchdowns. This is in addition to not throwing an interception or fumbling this season.

Turning it around, it’s difficult to imagine that anybody in the Gophers’ system at present could do better than that this season with USD.

“A lot of it has to do with the system,” said South Dakota passing game coordinator Ted Schlafke. “He had some other quarterbacks he came in with (at Minnesota) and maybe the same resources weren’t devoted to him that we devoted to him here. But the way he’s playing right now for us? There’s no question he could play at that level.”

By “resources,” Schlafke is referring to the amount of coaching attention Streveler received since he came in from Minnesota.

“For a lot of quarterbacks, it’s not about getting an opportunity, it’s about getting the right opportunity,” Schlafke said. “He got a start at Minnesota as a backup – he got about 20 snaps in practice that week, got thrown in there and threw seven passes. Here he earned the job and it was full-speed ahead from there.”

While it doesn't apply to Streveler's transfer, Minnesota would never be referred to as Quarterback U. This is the program that has had one quarterback since 1956 who has thrown a touchdown pass in an NFL game (Mike Hohensee threw four, all in replacement games in 1987) and got another touchdown pass in the old AFL when Gino Cappelletti threw for a score for the Boston Patriots while lined up to kick a field goal.

In the Gophers’ defense, when Minnesota decided Streveler wasn’t good enough to play quarterback, he wasn't the player that he is now. Of course, you could say that about any freshman who is still playing the position when he's a senior.

Former Minnesota head coach Tracy Claeys praised Streveler's diligence and value as a teammate as he was walking out the door. There was seemingly no chance, however, that Streveler would ever re-enter the quarterback derby. One wonders, with the conspicuous will to succeed he’s shown at USD, what he might have done given not just an opportunity at Minnesota, as Schlafke might say, but the right opportunity.

“The No. 1 factor is how hard he’s worked to improve himself,” Schlafke said. “If he misses a throw in practice, he’ll throw that pass after practice for 20 minutes. You saw it on Saturday – we hadn’t thrown the post he threw to Brandt (Van Roekel, for a 55-yard touchdown) during the season yet, and you literally couldn’t have placed it any better if you threw it from 10 yards away.”

That would qualify as a good pass in the Big 10, too.