Faton Bauta will start at quarterback against the University of Texas San Antonio, Colorado State head coach Mike Bobo announced Monday.
Bauta, a graduate transfer from the University of Georgia, came in for redshirt junior Nick Stevens during CSU’s 44-7 loss to CU this past Friday. Bauta went 6-9 for 32 yards, including a 5 –yard touchdown to sophomore Marcus Wilson.
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“Faton Bauta will start this week at quarterback,” Bobo said. “Nick [Stevens] didn’t play particularly well. I didn’t think we gave Nick a lot of help, offensively, but at the end of the day we still turned the ball over and failed to make some routine plays,” “We’ve addressed it with Nick and Faton, and Faton is going to start. He gave us a little bit more energy. The game was out of hand but his (Bauta’s) ability to make plays with his legs, until we can all get on the same page offensively, will help us.”
Stevens performed well enough last year to earn a spot on the All-Mountain West second team, but struggled in the team’s first game this season, completing 6 of 20 pass attempts for 31 yards while throwing two interceptions and losing a fumble.
Bauta’s start on Saturday against UTSA will be the second of his career. In his only previous start at Georgia, Bauta completed 15 of 33 pass attempts for 154 yards and four interceptions in a 27-3 loss to the University of Florida.
The reasoning behind the switch from Stevens to Bauta is that the team needed some more energy on the offensive side and Bauta can do things with his legs while the offense gets settled in, according to Bobo.
“We’ve addressed it with Nick and Faton, and Faton is going to start,” Bobo said. “He gave us a little bit more energy. The game was out of hand but his (Bauta’s) ability to make plays with his legs, until we can all get on the same page offensively, will help us.”
Colorado State will take on UTSA at 2 p.m. at Hughes Stadium for their first home game of the season.
Collegian Sports Editor Chad Deutschman can be reached by email at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @ChadDeutschman
