No controversy; Richardson to start against Oklahoma State

AMES — Any thoughts of a quarterback controversy for the Iowa State football team were squashed when Paul Rhoads took to the podium for his weekly press conference on Tuesday.

Rhoads confirmed that Sam Richardson will start on Saturday morning against Oklahoma State despite the fact that he removed from last Saturday’s 71-7 loss to Baylor Baylor in favor of redshirt freshman Grant Rohach.

“Sam’s going to start," Rhoads said. "We plan on him playing at a higher level with his physical health, but he’s got to make smarter decisions and quicker judgments.”

Rhoads also noted that this past Saturday was the first time all season long that Richardson had not been further banged up. He is now as healthy as he has been in a while.

The biggest factor for Rhoads when deciding which quarterback to start was Richardson’s knowledge of the offense.

“There are things that Grant is just not there and he will be a step behind,” Rhoads said. “We don’t need to be step behind, we need to start getting at speed level or a step ahead as a football team. Sam’s knowledge gives him the opportunity to do that.”