HUNTINGTON -- As August officially opens up, there is only one question on the minds of Marshall fans -- who is going to emerge as the starting quarterback?

That same question is on Marshall football coach Doc Holliday's mind as well.

Holliday said during Conference USA Football Media Day festivities that Brian Anderson will open camp as the No. 1 quarterback after Anderson started all 13 games in 2009, but that doesn't necessarily mean he will definitely start in the Sept. 2 matchup against Ohio State.

Anderson will have to earn his No. 1 spot in one of the most intriguing quarterback battles that Marshall has seen in a long time. The quarterback race will feature Anderson, Clemson transfer Willy Korn, redshirt freshman A.J. Graham and true freshman Ed Sullivan.

"You can't get four quarterbacks ready to play. That being said, we'll go over a five-day acclimation period where we have the team split into two teams and go two-a-days practice," Holliday said.

When teams are broken down into split-squad for team drills, one quarterback will line up with each team. This will occur during both practices during two-a-days with each quarterback in the race going through the team portion once.

For example, if Anderson and Korn go through the split-squad drills in the morning practice, Graham and Sullivan will take part in the split-squad portion during the afternoon practice.

"We'll practice twice a day but each team practicing once so we can get as many reps as possible over the five-day period and determine who those guys will be," Holliday said.

When players officially report to preseason camp on Tuesday, there will be exactly one month before the season-opener at Ohio State.

That doesn't exactly leave much time for a four-way quarterback battle.

Therefore, Holliday is using the five-day evaluation period as a chance to pare down the four-way race to two leading candidates who will then get the bulk of the repetitions for the remainder of camp.

"We probably won't make a final decision until the week going into the week of the Ohio State game, but we can't get four guys ready up to that point," Holliday said.

With Holliday and his staff ushering in a new offensive scheme, the five-day evaluation period is going to be a whirlwind of excitement for the program and fans.

Anderson is the No. 1 starter at this point because of his experience in the starting role. In 13 games last season, Anderson finished with 2,646 yards and 14 touchdowns while leading the Herd to its first bowl win since 2002.

He has more starting experience than the other three quarterbacks combined. The only other quarterback on the Herd's roster to start is Korn, who started one game in 2008 while at Clemson.

In that lone start against Georgia Tech, the highly-touted Korn suffered a shoulder injury that required surgery. He battled for the No. 1 job at Clemson in 2009 with Kyle Parker, who went on to start all 14 games for the Tigers.

Korn finished his time at Clemson with 406 yards passing, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He completed 46-of-66 passes in 14 career games.

Like Korn, the Herd's other two quarterback prospects were among the nation's top prospects coming out of high school.

Graham signed with Marshall in 2009 and redshirted last year after earning the Mr. Football award in Florida following his senior year at Godby High School.

He and Anderson split time in the spring practice with Graham showing off his dual-threat skills. Graham's best attributes are that he thinks pass first under center, but possesses the ability to make plays with his legs when a play breaks down.

Sullivan comes to Marshall as the virtual unknown for this year. A three-star prospect out of Boca Raton, Fla., Sullivan originally had committed to Wake Forest, but chose to join the Herd after visiting campus once Holliday was named the new head coach.

As a high school senior, Sullivan threw for 2,776 yards and 34 touchdowns while throwing only nine interceptions. One of his most impressive games came against Park Vista when he threw for 371 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions while adding an 80-yard scoring run in a 52-35 win.

Marshall players report on Tuesday before hitting the field for the first practice on Wednesday. Practice times for Wednesday are not yet available.

Lori Wolfe/The Herald-Dispatch

New Marshall quarterback Willy Korn

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