The year of the quarterback?

Such a scenario is easy to foresee when looking at how the 2012 PSAC West football season stacks up.

Six of the eight teams return their starting quarterback, though the offensive systems of the teams radically differ in some cases.

The only two Western Division teams starting a rookie QB this year are defending co-champion Slippery Rock and Lock Haven, which is 1-52 over the past five years and is on a streak of 29 consecutive losing seasons.

In fact, the Bald Eagles' current 42-game losing streak is the longest active drought in the NCAA, all divisions.

The top portion of the league has experience behind center, however, beginning with California and Indiana. And Edinboro has a third-year starter in junior Cody Harris.

“Quarterback is the most important position on the field,” Edinboro coach Scott Browning said. “It's hard to win without a good one.”

California may have the best one — all due respect to Harris.

Peter Lalich returns to the Vulcans, coming off a season that saw him throw for 3,725 yards, fourth-most in league history. His top three targets — Chedrick Cherry, Thomas Mayo and Mario Washington — have exhausted their eligibility, however.

His coach is gone as well, as John Luckhardt retired after 10 seasons. Former assistant coach Mike Kellar takes his place. California is at least a preseason co-favorite to win the West for the seventh straight year.

“We've got tradition on our side, but every year is a new year,” Kellar said. “You still have to go out on the field and win games.”

Lamont Smith returns from consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons for the Vulcans, though California returns only four starters on defense.

Kellar said the veteran quarterbacks around the league will make it that much stronger.

“We have to respond in that area and I think Peter will,” he said. “He had not played a game in two years before joining us last year. He improved with each game and now he's got a full season under his belt.”

IUP returns junior Pat Smith behind center, though the Crimson Hawks threw just 182 passes last year, fewest in the league by far. Senior running back Harvie Tuck is looking for his third successive 1,000-yard season and IUP returns seven starters on both sides of the ball.

“I'm excited about our team and what it could become,” second-year coach Curt Cignetti said. “But this is a tremendous league with a lot of good football teams.”

Edinboro has enjoyed nine consecutive winning seasons and having a Harris at quarterback is a big reason why. Cody Harris followed in older brother Trevor's footsteps in taking the reins of the Scots' offense.

Harris completed 72.2 percent of his passes last year, the first time a PSAC quarterback completed 70 percent of his throws since 1992.

“You can do so many more things with an offense when your quarterback has been around for a long time,” Browning said. “Now that Cody's a junior, his leadership skills will be that much better, too.”

Edinboro returns six starters on both sides of the ball, including senior cornerback Branden Williams, who is the PSAC's active leader in interceptions with 14.

Quarterback Anthony Vendemia started the final six games of Mercyhurst's season last year and is only a junior this year. He will have to deal with the loss of two-time PSAC West Offensive Player of the Year Trevor Kennedy, however.

“You look at the quarterbacks around this league and it's scary,” Mercyhurst coach Marty Schaetzle said. “You can do so much more offensively as your quarterback develops and we're hoping that's the case with us.

“We have to get back to playing physical football and our offensive line can get that done.”

The Lakers have three solid weapons returning to the backfield behind Vendemia.

Gannon returns sophomore starting quarterback Daniel Tapiscott, though he will be challenged this year. Clarion has junior Ben Fiscus coming back behind center.

“We're going to have competition at quarterback,” first-year Gannon coach Brad Rzyczycki said. “This is a strong league and anything can happen. We've had three different teams win the West over the past three years.”

Fiscus has run for more than 1,300 yards and 11 touchdowns in two years as Clarion's signal-caller. The Golden Eagles rushed for at least 200 yards six times last year.

Clarion has eight starters back on both sides of the ball. Only Lock Haven (seven offensive, 10 defensive) has more starters returning in the West Division.

“No one's expecting us to do much, but that was the case three years ago and we won eight games,” Clarion coach Jay Foster said. “There's no reason why we can't do that again.”

<B>West Division(1st place votes) </B>1T. California (2)1T. Indiana (3)3. Slippery Rock (2)4. Edinboro5. Mercyhurst (1)6. Gannon7. Clarion8. Lock Haven<B>East Division </B>1. Kutztown (5)2. Bloomsburg (3)3. LIU Post4. West Chester5. Shippensburg6. East Stroudsburg7. Millersville8. Cheyney