QB Jesse Hosket gets nod as Southeast Missouri State football team's Week 1 starter

The Southeast Missouri State football team decided on its Week 1 starting quarterback Monday, as East Central Community College transfer Jesse Hosket will get the nod at Memphis on Sept. 3, according to Southeast sports information director Jeff Honza.

Hosket, a junior, was the team's No. 2 quarterback throughout summer camp behind sophomore Dante Vandeven, a Jackson graduate who started eight games last season and went on to be named the Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year. Each player had a final chance to create some separation in the quarterback battle during Saturday's scrimmage at Houck Stadium.

The 6-foot-4 Hosket was 117-of-191 (61.3 percent) last year as a sophomore at ECCC, amassing 1,504 yards and 16 touchdowns through the air. A native of French Camp, Miss., Hosket averaged 222.3 passing yards per game on a Warriors team that ranked 10th in the final National Junior College Athletic Association Football Poll and advanced to the semifinals of the MACJC Playoffs.

Vandeven completed 155 of his 250 pass attempts for the Redhawks in 2015. The 6-2, 185-pound signal caller became the first Southeast true freshman to eclipse the 1,000-yard passing mark in a single season, finishing his campaign with 1,568 yards and 11 TDs while adding another 292 yards and six scores on the ground. He was sixth in the OVC in passing average (174.2 ypg) and fifth in total offense (206.7 ypg).