Once again, the ISU football team will enter the summer in a quandary over who will be the team’s No. 1 quarterback.

True freshman Bret Meyer began the annual spring game as the No. 1 quarterback on the Cardinal team, which was composed of the first and fourth string players. The No. 2 and No. 3 players were on the White team, which was given a 21-0 lead to start the game.

Austin Flynn, a redshirt freshman, was the lead quarterback for the White team, but midway through the third quarter, Meyer was replaced by Flynn on the Cardinal team and Meyer took snaps for the White team.

ISU head coach Dan McCarney said the switch was planned in advance.

“There wasn’t any promotion or demotion as the game went on,” McCarney said. “We had it all set up ahead of time. We were going to play Bret on both sides and Austin on both sides, and I think it’s clear there’s real good competition on both sides.”

McCarney said the coaching staff will review the game and evaluate each players performance.

“Bret Meyer did a lot of good things, [but] made some mistakes. Overall, he looked like a guy who was a first-year player,” McCarney said.

“Austin Flynn did some good things, made a few mistakes, but did some good things … We are better at the quarterback position than any time we were last year because of the depth and the ability and the competition. We will definitely go on through summer and two-a-days before we make a final decision.”

Meyer finished the game 9-of-21 for 84 yards, and Flynn completed 6-of-11 for 97 yards.

Meyer gave himself a mediocre rating for the day’s effort.

“I’d give myself about a C,” Meyer said.

“There’s definitely room for improvement, and I think I’ll get there. I was playing tight at the beginning of the game, and that can’t happen.”

The Cardinal team started the game off with a quick 64-yard touchdown run from Stevie Hicks on the second play from scrimmage.

“Stevie Hicks did a real good job,” McCarney said. “There were three or four runs in that scrimmage today where it looks like that guy has a chance to be special, and we need to see more of that.”

After a scoreless second quarter, Flynn ran in for a 2-yard touchdown with 1:52 left in the third quarter for the Cardinal team.

“Bret’s still at No. 1,” Flynn said. “He’s earned the job over the spring. Me and [Cris] Love are working on each other basically, trying to get each other better. We’re neck-and-neck trying to get the No. 2 spot and that’s how it is now.”

Midway through the fourth quarter, Kyle Van Winkle entered the game at quarterback for the Cardinal team and threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to Andy Kohler.

After a brief tie at 21, Hicks ran in from the 8-yard line, giving the Cardinal team a 27-21 edge and victory.

Hicks finished the game with 164 yards and two touchdowns for the Cardinal team. For the White team, freshman Jason Scales was the leading rusher with 40 yards.

McCarney said he was pleased with the contributions of both of his young running backs.

“I thought Jason did a lot of good things,” McCarney said. “He’s with the White team, so he’s going against our No. 1 defense most of the day. He’s got real good feet … I’d be shocked if we redshirt him this fall. I’ve seen a lot this spring that he’s a guy we’ve got to get ready for Sept. 4.”

Defensively, the leading tackler was Cardinal player Brandon Brown. Brown had eight tackles and was followed by Cardinal teammate Jason Berryman with seven.

Senior Ellis Hobbs had five tackles and one pass deflection. He said he was pleased with the defensive effort of the Cardinal team.

“We ended the game real well,” Hobbs said. “I can’t complain because we didn’t give up any points. Even though we did some bad things, we still won, and that’s the bottom line.”

Caleb Berg from the White team had one interception for a 14-yard return in the second quarter. Dominique Flower had six tackles and two pass deflections for the White squad.

“Only one turnover defensively was disappointing [when] we had our hands on three, four, five other balls that were in the air,” McCarney said. “Offensively, they did a good job of holding on to the football.”