The swirling of the ISU quarterback carousel ended Thursday when Bret Meyer was named the Cyclones’ starting quarterback for the Sept. 4 season opener with Northern Iowa.

Meyer, a 6-foot-3 redshirt freshman from Atlantic, has been competing with Austin Flynn for the starting position since spring practices began.

Head coach Dan McCarney said after 10 scrimmages and weeks of practices, that Meyer has emerged as the No. 1 quarterback, and that Meyer has been a little more consistent and productive.

“The scrimmaging is over; the evaluation is not,” McCarney said. “If Bret goes out and throws six interceptions in the mock game [on Saturday], I’ll have to go out and re-evaluate.”

In 2003, Meyer was the Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year and Offensive Scout Team Player of the Week four times for the Cyclones.

He started the spring football game as the Cyclones’ No. 1 quarterback and finished the game 9-of-21 for 84 yards.

Meyer said he feels he has a better handle of the Cyclone offense now.

“The spring game, I was still kind of learning, but I’ve got a pretty good grasp of what’s going on now,” Meyer said.

Meyer said he was happy to have the decision made so he can concentrate on the Northern Iowa game.

“I feel good; it’s kind of a relief,” Meyer said. “I didn’t care anyway, I just wanted to know.”

Flynn, a 6-1 redshirt sophomore from Deer Park, Texas, said that he was unhappy with the decision but that it comes down to whoever helps the team win.

“Definitely I was disappointed; you’re always disappointed if you lose a competition,” Flynn said.

The coaching staff is still evaluating the position, and Flynn said he is going to keep on trying to win the starting spot.

“I have no control over how Bret plays,” Flynn said. “I’m not going into the game saying, ‘I hope he throws two picks.'”

After being named the starting quarterback last season, Flynn started seven games for the Cyclones, completing 99-of-212 passes with five touchdown passes and 10 interceptions. He rushed for 396 yards and led Iowa State with 148.5 total yards per game.

McCarney said not to be surprised to see the quarterbacks splitting time against the Panthers.

“Both of those quarterbacks will play against Northern Iowa,” McCarney said. “Both those quarterbacks will play in the first half against Northern Iowa. Everybody in this program respects both of those quarterbacks.”

The coaching staff would like to establish the No. 1 spot, but McCarney said Iowa State would continue to play both players as long as it is beneficial to the team.

“If both of them play and both of them can help us win, and both of them can help us move the chains, we’ll keep playing both of them,” McCarney said.

McCarney said he likes what he sees in young quarterback.

“[Meyer’s] arm strength, his accuracy, his decision-making, all those things are a little bit beyond what I would expect from a guy who’s just gone through a redshirt year and never played before,” McCarney said. “He’s got some special intangibles.”