“It was hard,” Alan Bowman said about missing most of his second-straight season. “Just to kinda sit on the sideline not being able to help or contribute. All I could do was support and help them in as many ways as I could. But, just standing there for the second year in a row is kinda like, ‘dang... this is not..’ You come here to play. You come here to go out in the Jones in front of everybody. But, we think it was the smartest decision for me to redshirt, save the year and have three more years left of eligibility so that was the smartest decision but definitely it was tough.”

This is Bowman’s first time getting into spring practice in full swing. The first year was when he was still coming in from high school then the second was spent still recovering from the collapsed lung two years ago. Last year it was a cracked collarbone that was in a position to be completely broken if he would have continued to play.

He said he was able to come into this offseason though fully recovered with about five to seven pounds added to his frame. Now, it’s about gaining more and hopefully playing at 220 this year. Right now he weighs around 216 pounds.

“I don’t think I feel rusty,” Bowman said. “Preparation helps with that and watching film with coach (David) Yost in my free time in the offseason, kinda getting after it. Obviously, the first couple of plays and throws just kinda getting back into it but I wouldn’t say rusty.”

Like his teammate, Maverick McIvor has faced adversity through injury. He has yet to see real game action for quite some time. This dates all the way back to high school where McIvor tore his ACL and meniscus his senior year followed by breaking his left foot in practice by stepping on a defender after a jumping throw.

Bowman said McIvor has taken steps in his “second go-round of it”. He added McIvor is not a new player since he’s been here already despite missing time. He’s been helping the former San Angelo Central QB with learning how his teammates play, what signals are coming in and advancing forward despite the injury.

Back at full health, both are now in a position to battle for the No. 1 QB spot, according to head coach Matt Wells. One, Bowman, has 10 games of NCAA experience while the other has zero.

“That’s good. All I want is competition,” Bowman said. “Pushes me. Makes me want to better. I don’t settle. I don’t want to settle. I always want to get better. I’m not going to shy away from competition so it doesn’t bother me at all.”

What does that do for McIvor’s mentality?

“Yeah, it’s straight competition every day, every rep, every practice,” McIvor said. “Just come out and do the best you can. You don’t have to worry about the end. It’ll decide itself. I think every day is just a grind and we’re just figuring it out.”

McIvor said he’s worked on his timing with receivers since he’s been able to practice dating back to late last season. He hopes to have that down by the end of spring practice knowing the next few weeks will be good for him.

“It sucks to be on the sideline. There’s nothing worse than watching your team going out there to ball out. But, you have to be the leader on the sidelines as you are the leader on the field. I mean there’s nothing really different except you’re not on the field. You got to be a vocal leader. You stand up for whoever’s down or whoever’s up.”

McIvor said he was able to get in a lot of mental reps while missing time. He added that’s as important as getting right physically.