By Wendell Barnhouse
Big 12 Digital Correspondent

Comparing the starting quarterbacks at Big 12 schools this season to last season offers up the cold hard facts that the roster churn and the competition at that position creates change.

Only three teams are guaranteed to have the same player who started in the 2014 opener starting this season's opener. That would be TCU's Trevone Boykin, Iowa State's Sam B. Richardson and Kansas' Montell Cozart. Texas Tech could join that list if junior Davis Webb gets the nod in his battle with Patrick Mahomes.

Three other teams have the same starter who finished 2014 as the starter – Oklahoma State's Mason Rudolph, Texas' Tyrone Swoopes and West Virginia's Skyler Howard.

Boykin is on the short list of favorites to win the Heisman Trophy. Richardson is the first established ISU starter going into a season in the last seven campaigns.

Perhaps the most intriguing quarterback story is at Oklahoma. Baker Mayfield was named the starter in a close competition with Trevor Knight and Cody Thomas. Mayfield walked on at Texas Tech in 2013 and became the first freshman walk on to start an NCAA game for an FBS school. He was named the Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year.

And he lost his starting job to Davis Webb. Mayfield decided to leave Lubbock and walked on – again – at Oklahoma. After spending last season as a redshirt running the Sooners' scout team, Mayfield was named the starter. The new offensive scheme favored by new coordinator Lincoln Riley is similar to the offense Mayfield played in at Texas Tech.

"I think (his familiarity with the offense) helped him more early, back in the spring," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. "The other guys now have been in it enough that it wasn't that much of a factor."

At Texas Tech, Webb has been battling with Mahomes, who stepped in as a freshman last season when Webb was sidelined late in the season.

"They've had a great camp, both deserve to be the starter," said Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury, who indicated that Saturday's starter will be revealed when he jogs on the field. "Ball security has been really good. We've got two guys who have played extensively. We feel much better about that position.

"We'll start one and go from there. It's a luxury to have two you know you can win with. But we want to go with one guy."

No. 4 Baylor, which opens the season at SMU Friday, has junior Seth Russell taking over for Bryce Petty, who started for two seasons and led the Bears to back-to-back Big 12 titles. Russell should benefit from a veteran offensive line and dozens of play makers lining up at running back and wide receiver.

Kansas State started preseason practice with an unwieldy seven quarterbacks competing to replace Jake Waters. Even after trimming the competitors to four, that's still a challenge to get enough practice snaps. On Tuesday, it was announced that Jesse Ertz, a 6-3, 205-pound sophomore would be the starter Saturday.

"I think we handled it reasonably well," Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said of making the choice. "We portioned the number of repetitions in a favorable way. We went through 20 or practices making the decision.

"The competition helped each one become better players. I enjoyed that part of it."

First-year Kansas coach David Beaty is installing the "Air Raid" offense that utilizes a fast pace, spread formations and plenty of passing. Cozart, a junior, was named the starter by the previous coaching staff but struggled and eventually lost the job. However, he has gained confidence as he has learned the new scheme.

"You can tell he's way more comfortable," KU offensive coordinator Rob Likens said. "His confidence level is through the roof compared to the spring."

Stitt Happened
Bob Stitt is in his first season at Montana, an FCS school, after a successful run at Division II Colorado Mines. Stitt is considered an offensive innovator whose offense can be dominant running the ball one game then throw it 60 times in the next game. Several Big 12 coaches have him on speed dial and have poached plays.

So when Montana upset North Dakota State – the four-time defending national champions in FCS – a number of Stitt's admirers applauded from afar. The Grizzlies scored with two seconds remaining for a 38-35 victory.

"Man, what a great game," Kansas coach David Beaty said. "He's certainly one of those guys who stays on the cutting edge and what he does is unique in a lot of ways. He's a guy a lot of people who run the Air Raid system follow because of what they do."

"I watched every minute of it," West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said. "Bob Stitt is as good as there is out there. I'm glad he's starting to get his due. We've had these little one-back clinics back to the early 2000s. He's always been one of the guys there and we bounce ideas off of each other. He's been good for a lot of us."

Recent Reads
Your Humble Correspondent offers up these links to these worth-the-time stories from around the Big 12.

A challenging offseason conditioning program that doubled the running drills of past years taught Kansas players accountability and responsibility while also getting them in shape.

Kansas State's Bill Snyder will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame this December but at age 75 he still has the drive to succeed.

With an improved and upgraded stadium, the unspoken message is that this is the season for Iowa State football to post a winning season.

TCU's Josh Doctson transferred from Wyoming and started as a walk on but now he's one of the best receivers in the Big 12.

A deep dive here on West Virginia's running back duo of juniors Rushel Shell and Wendell Smallwood.

Baker Mayfield has twice been a walk on and twice he has won a starting quarterback job – first at Texas Tech and now at Oklahoma.

Oklahoma State senior J.W. Walsh started last year's opener against defending national champion Florida State but he isn't letting his backup role diminish his impact on the Cowboys this season.

Indisputable Fact
With the arrival of offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma has gone to a version of the "Air Raid" offense. The pass-heavy, spread-formation philosophy is credited to Hal Mumme, who first used it at Iowa Wesleyan in 1991. The starting center on that team was Bill Bedenbaugh, who is the Sooners' offensive line coach.

Quick Slants
Bryce Petty, who was Baylor's starting quarterback the last two seasons, had scored two touchdowns as a backup before he became the starter. Junior Seth Russell, who takes over for Petty, has scored 17 touchdowns in backup duty as a freshman and a sophomore.

Four Big 12 coaches are the all-time winningest coaches at their institution – Bill Snyder (K-State), Bob Stoops (Oklahoma), Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State) and Gary Patterson (TCU). Snyder is just the fourth active coach to be selected for the College Football Hall of Fame.

Over the last six seasons, the league has had six different teams - over half of its membership - win or share the conference title (Baylor, K-State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and TCU). No other peer conference has had as many different conference champions since 2009.

The Texas depth chart for the opener at Notre Dame has 66 players, of which 23 are freshmen or redshirt freshmen. Five freshmen are listed as starters – offensive linemen Connor Williams and Patrick Vahe along with wide receiver John Burt, middle linebacker Malik Jefferson and punter Michael Dickson. Redshirt freshmen Edwin Freeman (linebacker) and John Bonney (corner back) are also listed as starters.

Audibles
TCU running back Aaron Green on senior kicker Jaden Oberkrom, who has made 77 percent of his field goal tries in his career including last season's game-winner at West Virginia:
"Jaden has ice in his veins, man. When Jaden steps on the field, we have all the confidence in the world."

Sophomore cornerback Jordan Thomas, asked about teams attacking him because of his inexperience:
"I love it. I'm confident in my game. The more they throw to me, the more plays I can make."

Mike Gundy on the unknowns of facing Central Michigan, who has a new coach in John Bonamego:
"We don't have any tape and when you change staffs like they have, we feel like we need to be further along and better at what we do on offense, defense and special teams then they are at what they do, just because of not really knowing what their game plan or their schemes will be in the first game."

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops on opening the season against Akron, which is coached by Terry Bowden, the son of hall of famer Bobby Bowden:
"Great football family. The (Bowdens have) been great for college football. Terry and I aren't playing. It's just teams and programs. I've known Terry a long time and I'm glad to see he's still coaching."

Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard on the expanded Jack Trice Stadium, which is now the third-largest in the Big 12:
"This is a major, major step in putting us in a position that says we've got everything that anybody needs now to win. I'm not just talking about football here, but our entire program needs to be about trying to win some Big 12 championships and national championships because we're no longer underfunded, we're no longer understaffed and we're certainly not 'underfacilitied.'"