After a two touchdown performance in last Saturday’s loss to Iowa State, Kent State freshman quarterback Spencer Keith solidified his position as a starter.

At his weekly press conference, Kent State coach Doug Martin said he believes Keith, who will start Saturday against Miami, could still be the starter even when sophomore quarterback Giorgio Morgan returns.

Martin said Morgan is still limping from the ankle injury he suffered on Sept. 3 against Coastal Carolina.

“I don’t like the way (Morgan) looked,” Martin said. “He didn’t move well (and) he’s still limping. But the good news is the quarterback that’s playing, you can win with, so it won’t take too much longer before Spencer Keith will be the number one quarterback here.”

Depending on Keith’s play as the starter, Martin said Morgan will have to compete to see playing time.

“The great news about that is we’ll have two guys that will be competing against each other really hard and make both of them better,” Martin said. “I haven’t put a whole lot of thought into it because I don’t know when (Morgan) is going to come back or what the circumstances are going to be.”

In his first career start Saturday against Iowa State, Keith went 21-for-32 with two touchdowns and an interception.

Martin said he had great communication with Keith during the game, but the team didn’t match his intensity.

“I think the whole team was saying ‘well Spencer we don’t know how he’s going to do’ and that’s kind of the attitude they took into that game,” Martin said. “All of a sudden Spencer proved he could play and it was too late for them to turn the lights on then. Either you’re ready to play before the game or you’re not.”

Contact sports reporter Nick Walton at [email protected].