DOVER — If the football season started right now, Delaware State University would be using two quarterbacks.

Second-year coach Kenny Carter said he has informed both Kobie Lain and Dan Epperson they both will play this year.

Kobie Lain

Lain and Epperson split snaps in Saturday’s spring game with Epperson throwing a pair of touchdowns and Lain tossing one. Neither quarterback turned the ball over in the contest.

“Both those guys are going to really push each other,” Carter said. “If we were playing tomorrow it would be even.”

Lain and Epperson, both lefty quarterbacks, have a combined two Division I starts between them. One of them could end up taking the No. 1 quarterback spot before the season starts, but DSU will begin the fall in a two-quarterback system.

The quarterback with the most experience on the roster is senior Gilbert Rivera, who appeared in 19 games for the Hornets over the last two seasons. Rivera played sparingly in the spring game and is slated to open the season as No. 3 on the DSU quarterback depth chart.

Esayah Obado, who opened last season as the top quarterback and was going to be the starter in 2014 before a season-ending back injury, is no longer on the roster. Obado still has eligibility left but is set to graduate this spring and won’t return to the team. He played in seven games last year before suffering another season-ending injury.

Lain guided the Hornets to their only victory in the season finale a year ago when DSU finished 1-10 overall in Carter’s debut season. Lain, who will be a sophomore in the fall, was one of Carter’s first recruits to DelState and started the last two games of the year, including a 32-31 win over Howard when he threw a pair of touchdowns.

“The biggest thing for me is just getting into the playbook,” Lain said. “I want to spend a lot of time working on my craft and just learning the offense to get comfortable.”

Epperson enrolled at Delaware State this semester after two seasons at San Bernadino Junior College in California. He will have two seasons of eligibility starting in the fall.

Delaware State was Epperson’s only Division I offer out of San Bernandino. He had a handful of offers from Division II schools, but chose Delaware State after offensive coordinator and quarterback coach John Allen reached out to him after viewing his highlight tape.

Epperson is also from the same area in California as former Hornet Jacob Tizzard, who played on the defensive line last season. Epperson said after talking with Tizzard and Allen, he decided DelState was a good fit for him.

“My dream has always been to play Division I football,” Epperson said. “Really, I also wanted to experience something new. I’m from California so to come over here is a new life experience for me.”

While in junior college, Epperson passed for 2,767 yards and 27 touchdowns