Northwestern football: QB Jack Lausch to leave team, SMU transfer named starting QB
Second tenant announced for new Northwestern's Ryan Field
The new Ryan Field is coming together at Northwestern University.
The quarterback room has come into place for Northwestern football.
Jack Lausch, a Brother Rice alum who took over as NU's starting quarterback in 2024, is leaving the team to focus on his baseball career, Wildcats head coach David Braun said at Big Ten Media Days on Wednesday.
Braun then announced who would be taking over under center for the 'Cats in 2025.
What we know:
Lausch started 10 games for NU in 2024, taking over for transfer Mike Wright.
In his lone season as a starter, Lausch threw for 1,714 yards, tossed seven passing touchdowns and scored two rushing touchdowns. He threw eight interceptions and rushed for 213 yards.
In April, Lausch was set to enter the 2025 season in a competition for the starting quarterback job with Preston Stone and Ryan Boe.
In the 2025 baseball season, Lausch had a .268 batting average, stole five bases, hit nine doubles and smashed six home runs.
"Jack worked through that throughout the course of May and June, ultimately the decision that he made is something that I think everyone involved strongly supported and understood why Jack was making that decision," Braun said at Big Ten Media Days.
What's next:
Braun, after announcing Lausch's departure, announced his next starting quarterback.
Southern Methodist transfer quarterback Preston Stone will be QB1 for Braun in 2025. Stone was the starter at SMU in the 2023 season, and threw for 3,198 yards, 28 touchdowns and eight interceptions for the Mustangs.
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Stone broke his leg late in the 2023 season, and Kevin Jennings took over as the starter and never relinquished the job. Stone still stayed with the team through its College Football Playoff run in 2024, which stuck out to Northwestern as they were recruiting him in the transfer portal.
"I think what's lost is that Preston was an unbelievably successful winning quarterback," Northwestern offensive coordinator Zach Lujan said in April. "He took SMU to really the next level, he lost his job to somebody who's going to be a Heisman hopeful this upcoming year. Well, that's not in any way, shape or form a knock on Preston, but really speaks to who he is as a player, person and competitor."