Spring practice for the Hilltoppers’ football team begins Saturday. These are the five storylines to pay attention to.

The open quarterback race:

Western lost its two most experienced quarterbacks, senior David Wolke graduated, and sophomore K.J. Black was dismissed, creating a wide-open race at the quarterback spot. Six potential quarterbacks are listed on the roster – the most experienced is senior Brandon Smith. Smith completed 12 of 25 passes a season ago. Signee and freshman-to-be Courtney Dalcourt won’t be on campus for spring workouts, but will compete in the fall.

Still plenty of running backs:

They’re running, and they’re back. Western has an abundance of depth at the running back position, and they all seemed to share the load last season with seven different players registering carries.

Do the coaches key in on one guy or continue to bring multiple looks with multiple backs? Juniors Tyrell Hayden and Marell Booker received the bulk of the carries last year, carrying the ball 185 times out of 428 total carries.

New offensive coordinator:

Kevin Wright is out as Western’s offensive coordinator, and in comes Walter Wells. Wells was the running game coordinator and offensive line coach. While Wells will likely stick with the spread offense Western has adapted the last few seasons, it will be interesting to see how Wells changes things up for the Toppers.

Overall growth:

This could be the most important spring practice in recent history. It’s Western’s last round of spring drills before it becomes a bowl-eligible member of the Football Bowl Subdivision, making it a critical time for the Toppers to grow and learn before it counts in the fall.

Defensive line situation:

Senior defensive lineman Dan Cline and Robert Dark are both gone, and sophomore Kyle Anderson transferred to The Citadel. The three leaving combined for 19.5 tackles for losses last season. Juniors Neil Harrell and Nick Hartnett were both No. 2 in the depth chart in their respective defensive line positions last year, so they will be prime candidates to fill the voids.