Dante Casciola, a 6-foot-1, 203-pound redshirt freshman from Waxhaw, N.C., and Weddington High School, beat out senior Cole Dow, the backup to Jack Cook last season, and redshirt freshman Shane Hamm.
“Dante was very excited, very appreciative,” Chamberlin said Wednesday, “And I told him, ‘Dante, you earned this. It isn’t that we’re giving it to you.’ So he’s fired up about making his first college start.”
Casciola will make his first start and his college debut at noon Saturday when Dayton opens the season against Robert Morris at Joe Walton Stadium in Coraopolis, Pa.
“He did a great job competing,” wide receiver Kyle Hazell said. “They all worked really hard. But Dante really proved himself numerous times, and he’s the quarterback we decided to go with and he has our full support as a team.”
Casciola wasn’t available for an interview Wednesday afternoon at UD but talked to Michael Wayne O’Neill, from his hometown newspaper, the Enquirer Journal, earlier in the day.
“It’s a big honor being put in this situation,” Casciola said. “I can’t thank coach Chamberlin, coach (Josh) Hendershot and coach (Braden) Layer enough for giving me the reins to this offense. It’s a dream come true to play quarterback at the Division I level. I definitely will never take it for granted. But the job’s not finished. Just because you won the job doesn’t mean you’ll keep it. Now I’ve got to go out there and execute every Saturday and get some Ws.”
Casciola was one of 21 players in Dayton’s 2021 recruiting class. He redshirted last season.
In high school, Casciola played for two state championship teams. He was 26-2 as a starter and tied the school record for career touchdown passes (50). He threw for 3,002 yards in three seasons as a starter.
“The thing about Dante, we talked about being consistent, and that’s what he was,” Chamberlin said, “especially in the last week in his accuracy and decision making. The thing about our quarterback this year is he doesn’t have to be the man like Jack Cook. He’s got all these veterans — really good players — around him. Just manage the offense and don’t make mistakes.”
Cook threw 67 touchdown passes and ran for 28 scores in three seasons as a starter. He threw 14 touchdown passes and seven interceptions last season. The majority of the offensive weapons Cook had last season with the offense return this season.
“Being a quarterback for this offense, I really care about one thing and that’s not turning the football over,” Casciola said. “If i can do that, we can win some football games.”
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