College Football Preview Week 3
Admit it, it’s always been about the quarterback. Think back to your high school days and the quarterback was the guy on the team…probably even throughout the school. No one was writing verse about the starting left tackle. In the movies, the story is the quarterback. Warren Beatty played an L.A. Rams quarterback back in the ’70’s. Burt Reynolds and Adam Sandler played the same QB in the same movie 30 years apart. There has been Scott Bakula, Damon Wayans, Kurt Russell, James Van Der Beek, Charlie Sheen, (if you remember every one of these movie titles you watch too many bad movies). Heck, even make-believe actor Keanu Reeves played two make-believe quarterbacks in separate movie rolls. If you have watched the first two weeks of the college football season, you know the story lines have been the quarterbacks…for better or for worse. So for week three, we are going to take a look at the starting left tackles…..or the quarterbacks.
Clemson @ Louisville; Thur. 7:30pm EDT ESPN; At 0-2, Louisville is not the team we thought they would be when the season started. Part of the problem has been the inconsistent play at…quarterback. Freshman Lamar Jackson started in the loss to Houston last week and was 17 of 27 passing with a touchdown, but he also had four turnovers and got benched midway through the fourth quarter. Sophomore Kyle Bolin came in and threw two touchdown passes. Head coach Bobby Petrino says he knows who will start the game but will be not announcing it before game time. Clemson’s Deshaun Watson, on the other hand, has the ninth best passing efficiency rating in the country, albeit against subpar competition. This will be the first real test of the season for the Tigers and the last chance to keep the season from circling the drain for Louisville.
Florida State @ Boston College; Fri 8pm EDT ESPN; At Florida State, the offseason story was about the need to replace Jameis Winston at quarterback, when lo and behold, Notre Dame transfer Everett Golson fell right into their laps. In two wins this season, the fifth year senior has completed nearly 65% of his passes and has five touchdowns. More importantly, he has drastically cut down on the being the turnover machine he was in South Bend. Boston College had to employ a pee-wee football type of mercy rule last week. In a 76-0 win over Howard, both sides agreed to shorten the third and fourth quarters by five minutes to keep the game from becoming embarrassing, as if it that hadn’t already happened. Even with a talented quarterback in Darius Wade, the Eagles are a run-first offense. Wade is a gifted scrambler, Jonathan Hillman is a bruising running back and the offensive line is relatively young, so simplicity is best.
Georgia Tech @ Notre Dame; Sat 3:30pm EDT, NBC; The Irish lost starting quarterback Malik Zaire to a broken ankle last week. With Everett Golson having moved on to Tallahassee, they had to call on redshirt freshman DeShone Kizer while behind at Virginia. After a shaky start, all Kizer did was throw a game winning 39-yard touchdown pass with 12 seconds left in the game. While he has gained BMOC status this week in South Bend, he is going to have rely more on ball control and clock management this week. The Irish are really thin at quarterback now. ND is also facing one of the most effective ball control offenses in the country in Georgia Tech. The Yellowjackets spread option offense has racked up more than 400 yards rushing in each of the first two games this season, although they have yet to play anyone near Notre Dame’s caliber. Quarterback Justin Thomas has thrown only 13 passes in two games.
Auburn @ LSU; Sat 3:30pm EDT CBS; Auburn quarterback Jeremy Johnson has looked shaky for much of the opening two weeks. The Tigers are a rickety 2-0 after narrow wins against Louisville and Jacksonville State. Johnson’s five interceptions, (tied for most in the nation), have a lot to do with that. Part of the issue is Johnson’s lack of willingness to run when in trouble. He has only nine rushes for 18 yards, making him pretty one dimensional. Still, he got a vote of confidence this week from head coach Gus Malzahn who gave no indication he is thinking of any changes at the position. LSU’s Brandon Harris only has two career starts and he is not going to be asked to put up big numbers. Not when running back Leonard Fournette is running for 150 yards and three touchdowns like he did at Mississippi State last week.
Stanford @ USC; Sat 5pm EDT ABC; Stanford’s offense has spent much of the early season on the side of a milk carton. The Cardinal got only two field goals in a season opening loss at Northwestern and they needed a flea flicker late in the second quarter last week to finally put up a touchdown against Central Florida. Kevin Hogan is one of the more experienced quarterbacks in the Pac 12 and he has speed to work with at the receiver position. But, because Stanford is averaging only 3 yards per rush, the offense is too one dimensional. USC’s Cody Kessler has not played a full game yet this season. When you open against Arkansas State and Idaho, you get the early blowout lead and enjoy being “QB 1” resting on the sidelines. Regardless of opponents, Kessler deserves credit for a 78% completion rate to go with his seven touchdowns. But he has also been sacked 5 times by bad teams. The SC offensive line will have to shore up quickly.
Ole Miss @ Alabama; Sat 9:15pm EDT ESPN; Nick Saban says he doesn’t know who his starting quarterback for the Tide come Saturday. That’s because both Jake Coker and Cooper Bateman played well in the win over Wisconsin and they both played significantly worse than that in the win over Middle Tennessee State last week. Saban says he may continue to use both until one of them emerges as his real leader, even if this rotation lasts through the season. Ole Miss has had no such quandary. Chad Kelly’s first season guiding the Rebels offense has been a genteel walk through Oxford so far. Big numbers in big wins over outmatched Tennessee-Martin and Fresno State has Kelly sitting with one of the highest quarterback metric ratings in the country. His first real test of the season will be to end Bama’s 17-game home winning streak.
BYU @ UCLA; Sat 10:30pm EDT Fox Sports 1; The Cougars lost starting quarterback Taysom Hill in the season opener, but they have resorted to Hail Mary’s like they were Catholic. Beating Nebraska and Boise State with last minute desperation passes has become a “Hook-and-Latter Day Saint” play. Mangum threw for 309 yards in his first start last week and while he has a good arm, what makes him more dangerous is his ability to keep plays going when his pocket breaks down. UCLA has its own freshman quarterback, although Josh Rosen is four years younger than Mangum. Rosen was all-world in the season opening win against Virginia and a typical freshman starter in last week’s win at UNLV. BYU is a physical football team, so UCLA is likely to rely more on senior running back Paul Perkins than to ask Rosen to win the game.
Main image credit:
