It was just one play on the final day of fall camp before Western Michigan University's football team starts preparations for its season-opener at Michigan State on Sept. 2.
 
But the play brought a smile to new quarterback Jack Salopek's face…and a bunch of chest bumps and high-fives from his offensive teammates. As he scrambled out of the pocket to his left, the offensive line gave me enough time to find freshman Kaevion Mack who was surrounded by defenders. It was a perfect throw, right to Mack's face, for a touchdown.
 
The kid is getting it.
 
Salopek, a redshirt freshman from Irwin, Pa., just outside Pittsburgh, will make his first start of his college career against the Spartans. He's the second Bronco quarterback in recent years to start his first college game against MSU, the other being Jon Wassink. Also, Zach Terrell's initial college game was also against MSU, but he didn't start the game.
 
Salopek is taking over for Kaleb Eleby, who left WMU a year early for the NFL draft.  In the two years playing behind Eleby, it was throws like the one to Mack which Salopek picked up.
 
''I think the biggest thing I picked up from Kaleb, especially on the RPO (run-pass option) plays is that ball placement is the key,'' Salopek says. ''He was so good at hitting guys in the face on the different routes over the middle.
 
''If the ball is a little behind the receiver, it gives the defensive back a chance to bat the ball away.''
With a strong arm which has been getting even stronger in the spring, summer and into the fall practices, those throws will zip into the hand of his receivers.
 
''I've been shocked that with him putting on weight, his arm has gotten better and stronger,'' head coach Tim Lester said. ''He's always had a good arm, but he's been thin. Now he's 190 pounds. He committed himself to the weight room and the ball is coming out way better.''
 
Salopek is filling into that 6-foot, 3-inch frame…finally. He had around 10 FBS schools interested in the three-star rated quarterback early in high school, but WMU and Massachusetts were the only offers he had going into his senior season.  Salopek wound up his prep career passing for 6,150 and 40 touchdowns.
 
''Pittsburgh had offered after my sophomore year, then later pulled back after my junior year,'' he said. ''The story of my life is that I was a little too skinny and a little too slow in high school.''
 
While Salopek is a good drop-back passer, he's shown in practice he can also run the ball if he has to.
 
''I can run a little, too,'' he says with a smile. ''Coach (Jeff) Thorne (new WMU offensive coordinator) and I clicked immediately when he got here, and the offense fits me and my skill sets perfectly.''
If nothing else, he's excited to play against Pittsburgh again this season. Last year, he had to sub in for Eleby for a few plays to start the second half. Salopek connected on all three of his pass attempts for 20 yards in a wild game Western Michigan would win, 44-41.
 
The quarterback didn't play during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, but was in two games – Pittsburgh and Ball State – in 2021. He completed 3-of-5 passes for 20 yards.
 
''It's always been my dream to play Division I football and it seems like it's going to really happen in a couple of weeks,'' Salopek says. ''It can't be any better than opening against Michigan State.''
 
One could say he's been preparing for his first collegiate start since he started playing tackle football in the fourth grade.
 
''I always wanted to be a quarterback from my first day and I have ever since,'' he says. ''My oldest brother (T.J.) played quarterback in high school and through college (Alleghany College) and he had a successful career so I was pretty fortunate to have him as my mentor. Especially at the quarterback position, the longer you can be there, the more comfortable you are.''
 
Lester is happy with Salopek's toughness, which the quarterback had drilled into him by his other brother, Michael, who was a wrestler in high school and at the University of Virginia.
 
''I always say, the sport I'm most proud I did was wrestling, with its mental toughness and discipline,'' he says.
 
Salopek comes from an athletic family. Besides his brother, his mother (Susan) played college volleyball at Slippery Rock and his father (Tom) played basketball at Pitt-Johnstown.  Besides football and wrestling, the quarterback played basketball into his first two years of high school.
 
''The one weird thing is that I'm a huge golfer, but in Pennsylvania, boys high school golf is in the fall so I couldn't play it,'' he says. ''It never made sense to me why it wasn't in the spring. In my free time, it's what I do.''
 
Golf's loss is a big gain for Western Michigan University's football team.