With the first game of the 1999 season just days away, the Cyclones finally took some steps to answering the biggest question facing them in the off-season.

“Sage Rosenfels will open up at quarterback. We just felt that in the 15 spring practices and then the 30 here in the fall that he was a little more consistent,” Cyclone coach Dan McCarney said.

However, that doesn’t mean the Cyclone faithful won’t get a look at the athletic Derrick Walker.

“He will play, and he will play early in the ball game. He was obviously a little disappointed when I told him, but he came to practice the next day with a bounce in his step, and he knows that he will play,” McCarney said.

The competition between the two was both heated and friendly at the same time, and the knowledge that both would play no matter who started has helped instead of hindered the situation.

Rosenfels left Maquoketa High School as one of the best athletes in that school’s history.

Not only did the 6-4, 218-pound junior signal-caller excel in football, he also received acclaim in baseball, basketball, track and tennis.

On the gridiron, he was named first-team all-district and also was named by Street and Smith’s Magazine as one of the top quarterbacks in the nation. He led the squad to a 5-4 record and passed for 10 touchdowns in his senior year.

He also contributed on special teams, as he averaged 36 yards punting the ball and was also 20-of-23 in extra points.

In basketball, Rosenfels earned all-state honors his senior year, as he averaged 20 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.

On the tennis court, he was 40-6 in his career in the No. 1 position. On the diamond, he was a first-team all-district player, batting over .400 both his junior and senior years.

And finally, Rosenfels was a strong member of the track team, as he qualified for the state meet in the 4X200m and 4X400m relays.

After that spectacular high school career, Rosenfels chose to become a Cyclone.

He was redshirted his freshman year before backing up Todd Bandhauer in each of the next two years.

He saw action sparingly, as the durable Bandhauer took a lickin’ and kept on tickin’ throughout his career.

Rosenfels threw only 19 passes in his initial two campaigns, a feat he could match in his first game in the ’99 season.

Walker, meanwhile, also counts athleticism as an attractive feature of his game.

The 6-2, 228-pound junior from Brenham, Texas, was a wide receiver for most of his high school career. He runs an impressive 4.5 in the 40-yard dash.

However, when the starting quarterback went down with an injury in Walker’s senior year, the versatile player went on to lead the squad to the state semifinals.

He went on to play at Blinn Junior College, the same place former Kansas State quarterback Michael Bishop honed his craft.

He was in and out of the lineup in his two years there, completing 66-of-169 passes with five touchdowns.

He is familiar with a few Cyclones, as he was teammates with defensive back Jamarcus Powers and offensive lineman Ryan Gerke.

When the ball is snapped on Thursday evening at Jack Trice Stadium, the Cyclone QB duo will have 19 passes of Division I experience under their collective belt.

However, no one seems to be too concerned with that.

“I think we have two very capable quarterbacks that can do the job. They both battled very hard in camp and were each impressive,” McCarney said.

As for Rosenfels, he is just eager to get the game underway.

“I’ve been waiting about four years for this, and I’m just really excited to get out there and play,” Rosenfels said.

One thing the mobile quarterbacks bring to the table is the ability to run the option.

“We’ve worked on that a little bit, and actually we’ve had a lot of trouble getting to the outside on the defense,” Cyclone tailback Darren Davis said.

And there doesn’t seem to be a concern about how the players will feel with a ready and willing backup breathing down their necks.

“I think the way we’ve coached it, that won’t happen. We’ve told them all along that they will both play, and they knew that coming in. They are both really great kids, and they’ve helped each other. I really want them both to succeed and be able to move the football team,” McCarney said.

“We don’t want the kids to feel that if there is a mistake made, then they will be taken out right away. I think both of them have confidence in themselves and each other,” McCarney said.

With these two athletic juniors battling for time this season, it’s a certainty the offense will have a different look than in year’s past.

What remains to be seen is if the change is a productive one.