Who's the QB this week?

TOLEDO, Ohio - Toledo beat Northern Illinois without Aaron Opelt and with backup QB Austin Dantin going down too.

So will Alex Pettee be the hero again this week?

That's the question Rocket fans want answered. Opelt said Monday was the first day he's thrown around and felt good while doing it.

"(I) got quite a few throw in and it's come a long way since last Saturday," he said.

"I've been out there kind of cranking around a little bit, but today was the first day that I actually felt pretty good."

Head coach Tim Beckman said it'll be treated as a day-by-day thing and if the doctors give the okay, then Opelt will be the starter. However, he'll need to prove his shoulder's health in practice, where he'll need to outperform Pettee, the original third-string quarterback who led UT to its game-winning drive.

"He came in and drove us down for the 20th point," Beckman said. "(He) made an outstanding pass to Eric Page, as we all saw, so we feel very capable that we can do what we want to do with Alex as our quarterback."

That said, Opelt is working extra hard to get back on the field.

"Who knows? If I have as much improvement from yesterday to today, I mean, you never know," he said. "So that's what we're hoping for and praying for and (I'm) just trying to get out there as soon as I can."

"I know Aaron wants to play," Beckman replied. "Keeping him out is the hardest thing that we have to do because Aaron's a very competitive person and he wants to make sure this team is successful.

"Though he wasn't on the field on Saturday, I thought he did an outstanding job of helping us with Alex and Austin and being a coach on the field."

Whether Opelt stays a coach on the field or returns as the starting quarterback remains to be seen as Toledo prepares to play Temple.