BOZEMAN — Montana State named its starting quarterback on Monday morning, tabbing Justin Lamson, a junior from El Dorado Hills, Calif., who transferred into the program from Stanford this year.
"He didn’t take anything for granted," Montana State coach Brent Vigen said about Lamson earning the job after fall camp. "Being a transfer, I think sometimes people certainly on the outside took for granted that Justin Lamson would start for us, but he didn’t take that for granted. His personality just fits with our guys, and just being one of the guys has been his biggest priority."
WATCH THE VIDEO:
The quarterback position is one with immense pressure. Montana State has national championship aspirations and is coming off a season where its former QB, Tommy Mellott, received the Walter Payton Award, given to the top offensive player in the FCS every year.
Lamson explained how high expectations can be positive for someone in his position.
"Everyone says pressure’s a privilege, and that’s absolutely true," he said. "You work nine months out of the year to play three months of football, and even more. I’m super happy that I get that pressure, right, because I just worked super hard to be in this position."
He also went into detail about the balance it takes as a transfer to adapt to the culture and become a leader within the team.
"These guys made a national championship (game) without me last year, so they got all the talent in the world in this locker room before I was here," Lamson said. "So, I think it’s one of those things where you got to put your head down and work."
Lamson expanded on landing with Montana State for its proven success as a team year in and year out.
"I haven’t won that much, and I can guarantee that team success is better than individual success, so I’m just happy to be a part of a program that, they’re used to winning," he said. "There’s guys that want to win and are willing to do the stuff to win."
Patrick Duchien has jumped within the depth chart to the backup quarterback, with Chance Wilson now being the third-string.
"The difference between those two is pretty dang tight, but obviously we’d have to figure out who’s going to go in there next if something were to happen to Justin," Vigen explained. "So that would be Patrick. Chance has to stay in the fight, though, because they’re both still young. But Patrick has just become a more and more consistent guy."
Montana State kicks off its season at Oregon this Saturday at 2 p.m. Mountain time.
