Harlon Barnett declares Katin Houser as Michigan State starting quarterback

Katin Houser will be the starting quarterback for Michigan State moving forward, interim coach Harlon Barnett confirmed Saturday. The redshirt freshman received his first career start on Saturday in a 27-24 loss to Rutgers, getting the nod over Noah Kim, who started the first five games of the season.

Houser finished the day 18-of-29 passing for 133 yards and a pair of touchdowns, falling just short of leading the Spartans to victory. Barnett addressed the situation in his postgame press conference, confirming that the plan is to continue to start Houser heading into next week.

“As of right now, that’s fair to say, yes,” he said.

Michigan State entered the fourth quarter holding a commanding 24-6 lead on Saturday, but a defensive collapse allowed the Scarlet Knights to score 21 unanswered points and complete the comeback. Still, Barnett liked what he saw early out of the quarterback, addressing his play in an interview during the game.

“He’s doing a great job,” Barnett said. “He’s under control. He’s taking what they’re giving us and we’re really excited how he’s playing so far.”

As a member of the Class of 2022, Houser was a four-star recruit out of Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 16 overall prospect in the state, the No. 13 quarterback in the class and the No. 210 overall prospect in the class.

He took over for, who through the first five games had managed to go 91-of-160 passing (56.9%) for 1,090 yards, six touchdowns and six interceptions. However, the Spartans were on a three-game losing streak entering Saturday, and Barnett felt a change was needed to try to spark the offense.

He revealed after the game that Kim was the third string quarterback against Rutgers, with Sam Leavitt serving as the backup. Barnett seemed to indicate Kim was dealing with some sort of injury, saying he wanted to give him the opportunity to “heal up.”

Kim traveled with the team and was in uniform, but did not go through pregame warmups.

“Today, it would’ve been Sam (Leavitt), just to continue to let Noah (Kim) heal a little bit. Noah could’ve went in an emergency type deal today, but Sam would’ve went (first). As we go through the coming weeks, we’ll see how Noah’s feeling and then make a determination from there.”

Houser will again lead the Spartans onto the field for their rivalry game against Michigan next week.