UGA blog finds new home
Morning all. As I’ve said a couple of times this week, we’re converting this blog over to a WordPress platform and it will be a permanent move the first of next week.
Those of you who are regulars probably know that I’m not what you’d call techno-wizard when it comes to these things. But from what I understand the technology offered in this new format should make the blogging and commenting experience better for all. Of course, I’ll be learning as we go along, too. But I’m hoping to provide more pictures and video and things like that which should bring the blog more to life.
Of course, this blog is nothing without all you guys so I want to heartily invite (read: beg) you to come over to the new site by CLICKING HERE ON THE NEW ADDRESS and save it in your browsers. As of Monday, Feb. 23rd, this will be the permanent home of the UGA blog you so love or, in the case of some of you, love to loathe. If you’d prefer to copy and paste or just memorize, the new address is: http://blogs.ajc.com/uga-sports-blog/.
See at the new place!
AJC > Sports > UGA > Blog > Archives > 2006 > June > 05
Monday, June 5, 2006
Sorting out the SEC QB pictures
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mitch Mustain, Tim Tebow and Matt Stafford are all the talk this offseason.
But these are not he only QBs who will be heavily scrutinized in the SEC this year. It’s going to be a huge transition year for a lot of programs when it comes to quarterbacks. Vanderbilt lost Jay Cutler. Tennessee lost Rick Clausen. (That may be a good or bad thing. I tend to think it is a good thing.) Ole Miss has Brent Schaeffer coming in. LSU has the potential to be a mess with JaMarcus Russell, the 10-game winner, Matt Flynn, the hero of the Peach Bowl, and Ryan Perrilloux, the redshirt who supposedly is the latest can’t miss prospect.
Here’s a quick look at what to expect at some of the schools: Georgia: My over/under on Stafford starting is the Ole Miss game. I think Joe Tereshinski is good enough to get the job done but the potential of Stafford will be too much to resist. Joe T may also lose fan support if Georgia loses at South Carolina. And now that Daniel Inman is suspended the chances of that happening are better than 50 percent. I thought Joe Cox maybe had an outside chance until the spring game. Richt didn’t rule out Cox. But throughout the spring he talked about performing under pressure in front of a crowd. Cox didn’t do that very well. He may get a series in the opener against western Kentucky to see whether or not the spring was a fluke.
Florida: Chris Leak can play, but can he play well knowing everybody else wants to see somebody else? Tebow will play in almost every game and by the end of the year could have most of the fan support. I’m just not sure the Meyer system suits Leak’s talents. He did have 20 touchdowns and six interceptions last year and completed more than 62 percent of his passes.
But he didn’t seem to play with confidence in a lot of games and look indecisive at times. If Leak continues to get pressured out of the pocket and makes bad decisions as a result, his confidence will drop. And with Florida’s schedule – Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, LSU, Auburn, Georgia are all played in a seven week stretch – there is no doubt Leak will encounter some trying times. Remember though, Florida does have an abundance of receivers coming in and all could make an immediate impact.
Arkansas: Mustain will start more games than any of the other quarterbacks. That’s my guess anyway. He knows the system, works well with new offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, who just happens to be his former high school coach, and the word out of Arkansas is the coaching staff, no matter what they say publicly, is not all that thrilled with the returning QBs. In addition, Houston Nutt is going to have tremendous pressure on him to do something with Mustain. If he loses early, and it is almost a sure thing since Southern Cal is coming to town, fans are going to be calling for Nutt’s firing. The only thing that may save him is if he starts to play Mustain, people get a look at the potential and start to say, “Well, let’s give Nutt one more year to see how he develops with Mustain.”
South Carolina: Blake Mitchell may just turn in the best year of any quarterback out there simply because he has been with Spurrier for a year and that is a system that can produce numbers. Plus he has the best receiver in the conference with Sidney Rice.
Tennessee: Erik Ainge had pitiful numbers (89.9 pass efficiency rating) and a lack of support from his team and coaching staff this year. No doubt he has talent. And now he has a chance to play 100 percent of the snaps. But he will do that for a new offensive coordinator in David Cutcliffe. Cutcliffe can be tough on quarterbacks. And Ainge has been allowed to coast the past two years. So it will be interesting to see how he reacts to a taskmaster. I would expect Ainge to be improved this year and turn into one of the top quarterbacks in the conference in his senior year in 2007.
LSU: This could be a huge mess. Russell should be healed from the shoulder injury sustained against Georgia. He missed spring but has been a consistent starter and won 10 games last season. He did a lot of that without a running game, the LSU coaching staff points out every chance it gets. I don’t buy that. Joseph Addai played in 13 games. I saw him run against Georgia and Miami. He was a very good SEC back. The problem with Russell is he will look a like a superstar one game and a backup the next. Sometimes it is play to play with him. Now everybody at LSU has seen what Flynn can do when he is the starter. And everybody down there is not known for their patience. Flynn played in nine games last year and started the season’s final game. He could get a start earlier than that this year. Then there is Perrilloux, who they stole from Texas in a last minute recruiting coup.
Now behind the scenes there might also be some indecision on Les Miles’ part. At Oklahoma State he didn’t have to deal with the scrutiny of the fans and the one quarterback controversy he did have in his final year caused a riff between Miles and his offensive coordinator, Mike Gundy. (Gundy is now the head coach.) Anyway, Miles may be quicker to react than a veteran coach because he is trying to stay one step ahead of the fans and keep them satisfied. His best hope is for LSU to lean on its defense in the big games so he can avoid making a QB decision if Russell falters in those games.
Ole Miss: Brent Schaeffer’s return to the SEC should help Ole Miss, no question. But that is only if Schaeffer has matured while away. Schaeffer is talented and can help lead a team. But during his tenure at Tennessee his behavior was not always consistent with what a leader should be. Time away and the natural maturation process could have cured that. Schaeffer also has a lot of pressure on him. This was an offense that was 115th in scoring last season. That could lead him to reverting back to his old ways. Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron doesn’t exactly strike me as the strong disciplinary type either. Although his players, at least those at Southern Cal, played incredibly hard.
Vanderbilt: Listen the Commodores start at Michigan and at Alabama, so it doesn’t matter who starts for Vanderbilt. These guys are going to be so beat up mentally and physically it is going to take a strong, mature quarterback to pull them back together. Right now Vandy just doesn’t have that. Chris Nickson only threw three passes last year and completed just one. Vanderbilt will get a transfer Richard Kovalcheck from Arizona. He is immediately eligible. But if he couldn’t play well enough to be the guy for Arizona, which is not very good, I have to believe he won’t play well for Vandy.
Auburn: Like South Carolina, Auburn suffered through some growing pains last year with its quarterback, but should be better for it. Brandon Cox was solid as the season progressed and ended up with 15 touchdowns to eight interceptions. Plus he has this guy in the backfield who I think Georgia fans may have heard of … Kenny Irons. Arkansas’ McFadden is the best running back in the SEC and Irons is a close second.
Alabama: Well, Brodie Croyle, who I think took over the starting position after Namath left, is finally gone. Alabama was 69th in passing offense last year with Croyle. They may actually get better without him. Not because he is gone, but because the receivers are all back and DJ Hall looked goog in the spring. Tyrone Prothro remains a question mark. But, remember, at one time he was the most explosive player in the SEC. Still there is going to be a lot of pressure on J.P. Wilson. But Shula is living on high after his 10-win season and contract extension. Alabama also has four games it could win before going to Florida. It then has two more wins after that. So it could be either 7-0 or 6-1 headed to Tennessee. That record should build the QBs confidence. Earl Alexander, a regional star from Phenix City, is also in the fold and if there are problems could get some time. Alexander is listed as an athlete though and could play several positions.
Kentucky: Does anybody really care? Seriously, basketball player Rajon Rondo went pro, is there even life after that? Ah, but Rich Brooks is back over at the football complex. Actually Andre Woodson was the starter leaving spring. He played 11 games last year and split time in nine of those with Curtis Pulley. Neither, as you can imagine, was a wolrd beater. Woodson had six touchdowns and six picks. Pulley is gone and Joe Joe Brown, a freshman is listed No. 2 on the depth chart.
Mississippi State: Omarr Conner was so good at quarterback they moved him to wide receiver. So the job belongs to Michael Henig. He was average to mediocre last year in the eight games he played – five interceptions against two touchdowns. But so was the team around them. I expect more the same and MSU will pin its hopes on future recruiting.
