Michigan State QB Katin Houser feels ‘heightened intensity’ in practice and is reacting well
East Lansing, Mich. – The process is starting to take hold for Katin Houser. The highly-touted redshirt-freshman who began honing the quarterback craft a year ago at the college level is transforming into a steady young prospect who is capable of competing for the vacant starting job at Michigan State.
“I feel like I’m more seasoned than I’ve ever been,” Houser said after practice earlier this week. “I feel like I’m more confident and just more poised than I’ve ever been. So I feel like I’m in a prime position to go take that spot and I feel like I’m ready to do that.”
Competing for the starting job, in some ways, has come earlier than he may have expected. In other ways, it’s a job he always felt he could win, perhaps sooner than later.
Like most four-star freshman quarterbacks, Houser had dreams of winning the starting job last year as a rookie. But he soon came to realize that veteran starter Payton Thorne had already gone through a metamorphosis that Houser needed to experience, however long it took.
When Thorne surprisingly entered the transfer portal in May and eventually landed at Auburn, Houser felt the need to accelerate the seasoning process. Meanwhile, his friend, teammate and competitor Noah Kim felt the same way.
“Me and Noah are pretty close,” Houser said. “We understood that it was going to be a quarterback competition but we’re friends and we know what we have to do, and do what the coaches ask us to do. Just going out there and have fun playing football is the biggest thing; not look too much into the competition, just going out there and trying to play.”
Kim is in his fourth year in the program. As Thorne’s back-up last year, Kim completed 14-of-19 passes for 174 yards, and looked pretty good doing it. He applied firm competitive pressure to Thorne in the spring. Kim’s progress, and the coaches’ reservation in guaranteeing the starting job to Thorne, were among the reasons that Thorne entered the portal.
Kim is regarded by SpartanMag as the front-runner to win the starting job. But Kim will need to continue to impress and improve in order to hold off the talented Houser, who has a high ceiling of potential and is ascending steadily.
Houser feels he is more capable of delivering the smoothness needed at the position than he was as a freshman in 2022.
“I’ve been taking strides throughout this whole experience and every day I feel like I’m getting better, for sure,” he said.
In what ways?
“Just command of the offense,” he said. “I feel like I’m able to go out there and be confident and command the offense better than when I first got here.”
Last year, Houser served as Michigan State’s third-string quarterback, behind Thorne and Kim. He saw action in only one game, against Akron. He took six snaps that day and completed 1-of-2 passes for 2 yards, and also had a 13-yard run.
Through time as a third-stringer in the fall of 2022, and spring practice in March and April, Houser felt the process kicking in.
“I feel like I had flashes of really good plays but I didn’t do it at a consistent level that I wanted to be at,” he said. “So right now the biggest thing is playing football at a consistent level and getting the ball to my guys and just letting them make plays and doing what the coaches ask me to do. I feel like the biggest thing is just being confident and being efficient.”
‘YOU HAVE TO GET DEVELOPED’
At 6-foot-3, 213, Houser, from Anaheim, Calif., is the beefiest of the quarterback candidates. He’s also a creative swashbuckler.
He was ranked the No. 210 player and No. 13 quarterback in the On3 Industry Rankings for 2022, coming out of Southern California powerhouse St. John’s Bosco Prep in Bellflower, Calif.
In the 2022 and 2023 spring scrimmage at Michigan State, and last season’s short appearance against Akron, Houser’s scramble-to-throw instincts haven’t yet been displayed in a Spartan uniform. But those traits are in there somewhere. In the meantime, he’s working to refine his game within the Michigan State system.
“I feel like the biggest thing that I was trying to do when I came in as a freshman was trying to be perfect,” Houser said. “I was trying to do everything perfect, and you realize that you are not a complete product when you first come in. You have to get coaching; you have to get developed.”
He has a pedigree of patience and confidence. He transferred from state championship Liberty High School in Nevada to St. John Bosco, which was ranked among the Top 10 teams in the country and had a younger four-star QB already on the roster. Houser didn’t care. He was confident he could compete for that job, learn and develop.
St. John Bosco made room for Houser. He played in a two-QB system during Houser’s junior and senior year. He shared time with Pierce Clarkson, who eventually signed with Louisville.
After a strong showing during his junior season, which was played in the spring of 2021, he committed to Boise State. Word got out on Houser, and Michigan State became interested. The Spartans gained a summer visit from him, and soon enticed him to de-commit and pledge to Michigan State.
Later that summer, as a Spartan commitment, Houser emerged as a surprise finalist at the national Elite 11 quarterback camp and competition, and soared up the rankings.
Then, as a senior at St. John Bosco, the scrappy right-hander completed 65 percent of his passes as a high school senior, for 1,408 yards with 12 TDs and 2 INTs.
He displayed the ability to sit in the pocket and make quick reads and progressions against athletic, sophisticated coverages.
He showed a good QB brain in the pocket, and also the improvisational instincts to get out of trouble, buy time and continue to look downfield as a scramble-to-throw guy rather than scramble-to-run.
On one play charted by SpartanMag as a high school player, he sidestepped the rush, and went to a third read on the back side of the play, completing a pass into the cover-two window. He bought time to get to a third read, and did it all quickly, with plus arm talent.
On another occasion, the first read was the correct read – for him, maybe not other QBs. He was able to thread a pass on a skinny post into the cover-three seam with accuracy. He did it with a quick flick of the wrist. There was no wind-up. The window was a tight one, and it wasn’t open long. But he had the brain, release, zip and accuracy to make that decision work.
He’s not a robot. He has a feel for the game. Against a zone blitz, he gave ground while floating a touch pass over the dropping defensive end on a double slant.
He demonstrated the ability to place the ball high, to talented receivers in tight coverage, in places where only his guy could get to it.
His high school film was excellent. But that’s only a starting point once you get to college.
‘THERE IS HEIGHTENED INTENSITY’
As a mid-year enrollee in 2022, he played in the Green-White spring scrimmage when his high school classmates were preparing for the prom.
In his first Green-White scrimmage, he had spats of inaccuracy.
As his freshman year concluded, he realized he simply needed to settle down.
“I feel like I was really antsy and nervous, trying to get in the game,” he said. “But right now, I feel like I’m more confident and able to play more smooth.”
In April, he had some good moments in the Green-White spring scrimmage, despite fumbling his second snap of 11-on-11 reps.
On one play, Houser made a good, quick read and delivered a slant pass to Maliq Carr for 14 yards. Houser recognized that the safety (Malik Spencer) was conflicted between covering the flat and the slant and froze. He didn’t move with Carr. Houser was ready to pounce and zipped the pass to Carr.
Later, Houser found tight end Brennan Parachek on a sit-down route against zone for a gain of 9.
Houser’s biggest completion was a 25-yarder on an over route to reserve tight end Jackson Morse against the third-string defense in man-to-man.
He’s improving as a candidate by taking what the defense is allowing. That comes first. The game-breaking, swashbuckling instinctive stuff can come later.
“I feel like the biggest thing is to do what the coaches ask you,” Houser said. “The coaches have a specific plan for what they want you to do. They want you to put the ball in the playermakers’ hands and I feel like I can do that. That’s the key to winning the job.
“Another thing is just taking command, being a person that the team can rely on. Those are the two main things that will separate somebody.”
He was a bit erratic with accuracy during throws in pre-game last year, when working as a third-stringer. His accuracy has improved. What’s the secret?
“It’s definitely repetition,” Houser said. “Just constantly going out there every day and getting reps with the team and just trying to develop as much as I can.”
The process entered another chapter on Thursday with the first of 25 preseason practices.
“There is heightened intensity,” Houser said. “It was fun. I felt like I had a good practice and we had a good day as a team. I felt like I was seasoned a little more. I didn’t feel like a freshman.”
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