Western Kentucky’s quarterback competition will be settled soon.

Coach Jeff Brohm said Wednesday morning at WKU’s Media Day that he wanted to name a starting QB “in the first 7-10 days” of the Hilltoppers’ fall camp, which started later in the day.

If the race lasts the full 10 days, that would still give the presumptive starter more than 2 ½ weeks to prepare for the team’s Sept. 1 opener against Rice.

“We’ll narrow that down and have a starter by” the end of that time period, Brohm said. “I like the way our guys have been working and it’s going to be competitive still.

“But without question I think we should have a guy by then that will start getting most of the reps. The others will be ready just in case their number is called.”

The race to replace record-setting WKU QB Brandon Doughty appeared to have two frontrunners at the end of spring practice – redshirt senior Nelson Fishback and redshirt junior Mike White.

Circumstances then changed in June when Fishback suffered a pectoral injury while weightlifting. The injury will keep Fishback sidelined for most, if not all, of the 2016 season.

That injury put more of the spotlight on White, who sat out the 2015 season after transferring from South Florida.

While all of the QBs are battling for playing time, White said “it sucked” to see Fishback knocked out of the competition in that manner.

“You never want to see something like that happen,” White told the Daily News. “He’s a good kid, he’s been here for a while and waited his time.

“When that happened it sucked. It was unfortunate. But he’s still with us every day in the meeting room, still with us every day on the field and kind of helping us. He’s definitely been around and helped us a lot, so I know we’re all thankful for that.”

White has more Division I playing experience than fellow QBs Steven Duncan, Drew Eckels and Tyler Ferguson combined.

White, a 6-foot-4, 215-pound native of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., started in both 2013 and ’14 for former WKU QB and coach Willie Taggart at USF.

White had mixed results in his career with the Bulls. He finished his career there completing 51.5 percent of his passes for 2,722 yards with 11 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.

White left South Florida after his sophomore season and came to WKU, where he spent the 2015 season working with the scout team during an NCAA-mandated year on the bench.

“I never really got a redshirt year, so I was grateful for that,” White said. “I got to sit behind a great quarterback in Brandon and learn a lot.

“It’s been a long time and to finally get back into the swing of things and into the real stuff, not running scout every practice like last year. It’s going to be a fun time.”

White knows the Hilltopper offense “probably a little better” than the other QBs competing for the job, Brohm said.

“He can throw the ball accurately but we want him to be a leader, develop toughness, be able to drive the football when he can,” Brohm said. “But he’s working very hard at that as well.”

Ferguson, a graduate senior playing for his fourth college program, is the oldest of the quarterback quartet. The Bakersfield, Calif., native possesses a strong arm but needs to work on his consistency during this camp, Brohm said.

Eckels is the only one of the four to have played in a game for WKU. He completed one pass for 10 yards last year in a win over North Texas before getting knocked out with a season-ending shoulder injury.

Eckels, a redshirt sophomore, made “the most big plays” of any of the Tops’ QBs this spring, Brohm said.

“He’s got to just maintain consistency and become more of a leader and be a guy players want to rally around because they know he’s going to do everything it takes to win,” Brohm said.

Duncan is the newcomer to the race as a true freshman. He still has catching up to do when it comes to learning the WKU offense, Brohm said.

Senior left tackle Forrest Lamp, one of the Hilltoppers’ team leaders, said he wants whoever wins the job to step in and confidently take control of the offense.

“Just be leaders and run the huddle like they should, which they’ve done all spring,” Lamp said. “We’re confident in all of them and like coach Brohm said, we’ll figure out who’s the one eventually.”

Working in the QBs’ favors is the fact that whoever wins the job will take the reins of an offense with plenty of talent.

Lamp, a 2015 First Team All-Conference USA pick, anchors an offensive line that returns all of its starters. Running backs D’Andre Ferby and Anthony “Ace” Wales return in the backfield, while big play wide receivers Nicholas Norris and Taywan Taylor provide pass-catching threats.

The quarterback that can do the best job getting the ball to the offense’s playmakers will be the one that wins the job, White said.

“I think this is probably the best situation a quarterback could walk into when your entire offensive line is coming back and your top two receivers and rushers are coming back,” White said. “So it’s kind of like we’ve just got to make good decisions, take care of the ball and let the offense take care of itself.”

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