Former Bakersfield College quarterback Logan Kilgore was named the starter at Middle Tennessee State and played in two of the three opening games against Division I opponents.
Kilgore missed the second game of the season against Austin Peay.
“Austin Peay I was held out because of a foot injury in order to make sure I was healthy for Memphis,” said Kilgore.
The Blue Raiders played the Minnesota Golden Gophers to open their season at home. Kilgore passed for 172 yards on 13 of 18 pass attempts, with one touchdown and one interception.
He missed the next game, then came back to start against Memphis throwing 16-for-26 and 161 yards, with one touchdown and three interceptions.
Kilgore went out to Middle Tennessee in January and said he was working hard to just earn his spot on the depth chart.
Former starting quarterback Dwight Dasher was suspended indefinitely by Middle Tennessee for accepting a loan, giving Kilgore his chance to start.
“Once we kind of knew he was going down, I was the clear-cut backup, and now the clear-cut starter,” said Kilgore. “My head coach just brought me in and said ‘I know you already know this, but you’re our starter, and the whole team believes in you, and the whole coaching staff believes in you. Now you have to believe in yourself.’
“Nothing is going to change, everyone is just as confident with me in there as they were with him.”
Kilgore said he sought advice from former quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator Carl Dean.
“I called Coach Dean because I’m pretty close with Coach Dean, and I talked to him a little bit, and he just gave me advice and said take care of the football, and he thought I was ready, so it was no big deal,” Kilgore said.
Dean spoke about the nerves Kilgore might experience in his first game.
“I expect him to have a few nerves, and, playing in a little bit of a different atmosphere, you expect him to be nervous,” said Dean. “He’s playing a Big Ten opponent, and it is going to be a little surreal for him. He’s definitely earned the position that he’s in.
“Hopefully he’ll run the offense he’s been taught, and I expect him to be a little bit more of a polished player, and I think he’s going to do well. He’s smart with the ball, and, if he takes care of the football, he should do well.”
Kilgore’s first game with Middle Tennessee was televised on ESPNU, and Kilgore talked about the excitement of it all.
“It was cool. It was nice to be on national TV. I know that I had a lot of support back in California and around the country, my family and friends and stuff. It was nice to jump right into it, playing against a Big Ten team, in front of 30,000 and it was a fun experience,” said Kilgore.
Kilgore talked about dealing with nerves before the game.
“I felt completely prepared, being a quarterback my whole life,” he said. “It’s just another day you have to execute your game plan, and I wasn’t really nervous.”
Dean described the BC coaching staff’s reaction after hearing Kilgore would start.
“Well, we’re obviously proud and excited about it and a lot of the players from last year are looking forward to watching him on TV, and we’re just hoping for the best,” said Dean. “He got there in January, and is excited about being there and had a really good spring. The coaches like him and we’ve heard a lot of good feedback from them.
“I think going into the season they initially thought he was going to be a redshirt guy, he has a redshirt to use. I don’t know all the situations and details about how he ended up being the starter, but the fact that coaches have confidence in him and that he’s proven himself within the coaching staff and the players is good for him.”
Middle Tennessee lost the opener to Minnesota 24-17 and Kilgore talked about how the game went.
“Offensively it was an interesting game. We only had the ball for 14 minutes, they had the ball for 46. It’s pretty tough to win games like that. We would have loved to get the ball back in the fourth quarter, but fumbles didn’t go our way and we have a lot of good things to build on,” said Kilgore. “We were still in position to beat that team, and there’s no doubt that we’re a good team. We just weren’t able to put it together on all sides of the ball.
“I think it just gives us a lot of confidence knowing that we can compete with any team in the Big Ten, it feels like. I just feel like going into the rest of our schedule, [we have] some big games-at Georgia Tech, Troy, at home-it just gives us a lot of confidence knowing that if we just play our game we’re going to be tough to beat.”
Former BC receiver Vincent Van Horne also went to Middle Tennessee, and Kilgore talked about having a familiar face around.
“I was pretty excited, I definitely enjoy having a friend out here, but once I got here and I started practicing, I’ve met so many people. The whole community’s behind me, I have so many friends and stuff out here that the transition hasn’t been that tough other than being away from my family and my girlfriend, [who] lives there in Bakersfield. It’s just a matter of being out here playing and there are certain things that give me an advantage with having Vince here. Just because he’s someone that we could talk about old war stories and stuff like that together.”
BC transferred several football players on to the next level to play, and Kilgore talked about some of the guys he keeps in touch with.
“I talked to Tyrone [Crawford] a couple of times. He called me before and after my game, and then I called him before and after his game last night. I have talked to the other guys, not about football, but I’ve talked to them throughout different times in the season. I’m not sure how some of the other guys are doing, basically Tyrone, Tanner Webb, Nick Stevens, those guys are up at Humboldt and my sister goes to there, so I talk to them. It’s definitely exciting to see these guys playing around the country.”