Georgia Tech faces quarterback carousel

Frank Beamer muzzled quarterback Sean Glennon this week. He muzzled quarterback Tyrod Taylor too. He even muzzled himself.

Didn’t work.

Georgia Tech walks right into a quarterback imbroglio Saturday when it visits Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium. Glennon, with the better arm, will play. Taylor, with better speed, will play. But when and in what order and for what duration?

No trick questions.

“Nah,” Beamer said on the ACC coaches conference call Wednesday. “We had that well defined last year and I’m not going to talk about our quarterbacks right now.”

That did not stop Beamer on Monday night, however, when he lit into a caller to his weekly radio show when asked about the shortcomings of his offense after two uninspired performances to open the season. And when he met with the Virginia media for his weekly press conference Tuesday, he was still fuming, opening the session with a statistical defense of his program.

“We’re one of two teams that’s won 10 games in the regular season over the last four years. The other one is Southern Cal,” Beamer told reporters. “So (Tech fans) are used to that. I appreciate our fans. They want us to be successful and some of them are more vocal than others.

“But it is what it is right now. We’re working to get better.”

Just ask Glennon or Taylor. A synopsis:

• Glennon, a fifth-year senior who was MVP of the ACC championship game last season, won the starter’s job in camp after sharing the position with Taylor in 2007. His mobility is an issue, particularly for a team with new starters at the tackles.

• Taylor, who was supposed to have been redshirted last year, was being redshirted this year, or at least he was. A legitimate double-threat, he threw for 927 yards last season and ran for another 429, despite missing a couple of games with a bad ankle.

Taylor’s redshirt came off this time after the Hokies, ranked No. 17 in the AP’s preseason poll, fell in a 27-22 opening loss to East Carolina. The two quarterbacks exchanged the position 10 times last weekend against Furman and the first time Glennon came in to spell Taylor, the home crowd booed.

Not that the quarterbacking was mattering. Tech led just 3-0 at halftime before pulling away to a 24-0 win, with Taylor taking 17 snaps in the second half to Glennon’s eight. Glennon completed just three of eight passes for 42 yards while Taylor ran for 112 yards in 14 rushes, half of which came he said on abandoned pass plays.

Afterward, Glennon tried a little Seinfeldian logic to defuse his disappointment. “I’m almost tired of hearing, ‘You’re not playing because of someone else,’ ” Glennon told reporters. “It’s not satisfying to hear that as a reason. It’s a break-up thing: It’s not you, it’s me. George Costanza.”

So on Monday, Beamer brought down the Cone of Silence. But as if the coach needs something else to think about, Glennon’s history against Georgia Tech is superb. As a sophomore, he threw for 339 yards and a touchdown in a 38-27 loss to the Jackets. Last year, he threw for another 296 yards and two touchdowns in a 27-3 win.

He has yet to throw an interception against Georgia Tech in 85 attempts.

The man charged with extrapolating all this is Bryan Stinespring, Beamer’s offensive coordinator who is also getting kicked around in Hokie chat rooms this week. Beamer was compelled to wade into that debate too.

“I’ll schedule an appointment with anybody on Friday afternoon,” Beamer said, “and if any of you can come in there and show me you’re more knowledgeable than Bryan… . I’m going to listen to them. Until then, though, I’m going to listen to Bryan.”

Volunteers?