QB Situation (Year 4)

PonyPatrol · Post by **PonyPatrol** » Sun Oct 23, 2011 10:16 am

I know I'm beating a dead horse, but I'm sick of talking about the USM game. How does this team take the next step without a QB capable of running the R&S? How in the world has June been here for four years and I'm still asking this question?

JJ McD has played admirably coming off the bench this year, but his accuracy is poor - the #1 tool needed to be successful in this offense. Balls are consistently wild and receivers are not able to make plays down the field or in tight spots (see red zone). Moreover, he has absolutely no mobility, which makes it easy for defenses to simply rush to the spot where they know he's going to be. Simply put, his ceiling is not high.

Sadly, I guess there isn't an alternative. We pretty much know what we have in Padron, unless he can miraculously learn to get stop staring down receivers and holding the ball for 7 seconds. I just feel like the rest of this team is so close, it's a shame we still can't run June's offense after all this time. Next year will probably be more of the same and Preston shouldn't be expected to start as a RS freshman without some serious bumps along the way. It’s a shame that the staff was not able to solve this problem while the nucleus of Zach, DJ, JG and T-Reed are still in tact.

Am I being overly dramatic? Probably. But until we identify a signal caller who can run the offense properly, conference championships and marquee wins will remain out of reach. That game last night was winnable with a good college QB. I recognize 7-5 or 8-4 is a long way from where we once were, but I’m greedy and I’d like to see this team accomplish more than annual trips to Hawaii. Oh, and the fans in Dallas will demand this be the case before anything changes at Ford.

Roach · Post by **Roach** » Sun Oct 23, 2011 10:27 am

PonyPatrol wrote:Am I being overly dramatic? Probably.

You think? It's not like Padron doesn't have talent -- his name is all over the record books for a reason -- and we, as fans, have absolutely no idea what we have in Kaiser and Preston. We have high school numbers and practice reports when they throw skeleton drills and seven-on-seven plays. Plus, Kaiser missed almost all of last year because he was sick. Either one of these guys could be a dud, or either one could emerge as a terrific player. Did anyone here really think McDermott could stand on the sideline for two years and step in this year and win five straight? Of course not. Neither did I. That kind of talent shows up in games, and I trust this coaching staff's ability to evaluate talent a whole lot more than mine or other fans' or the computer geeks at the pay sites who don't watch them play and don't evaluate talent for a living anyway. Get Padron's back healthy and give him the keys to the car next year, with Kaiser and Preston backing him up. The following year, you have Kaiser, Preston, Printz and maybe Gilbert?) available -- someone will emerge and do just fine.

Take a deep breath, everyone. Losing sucks, but it's one loss. We're still 5-2, we're still 3-1 in C-USA games, we're still going to go beat Tulsa and we're still going to a bowl game for the third year in a row.

Hoop Fan · Post by **Hoop Fan** » Sun Oct 23, 2011 10:29 am

after not liking his body language and lack of mobility at first, i've come to like and appreciate McD. Anybody who beats the Frogs at Amon Carter is a-ok in my book. I still think Padron has alot of good qualities that can make a difference in games like that last night though. Whoever is qb, I agree we need to post a 9 or 10 win reg season though. Gotta take the next step and get some real attention.

Roach · Post by **Roach** » Sun Oct 23, 2011 10:31 am

Hoop Fan wrote:after not liking his body language and lack of mobility at first, i've come to like and appreciate McD. Anybody who beats the Frogs at Amon Carter is a-ok in my book. I still think Padron has alot of good qualities that can make a difference in games like that last night though. Whoever is qb, I agree we need to post a 9 or 10 win reg season though. Gotta take the next step and get some real attention.

Good point. McDermott will graduate with an undefeated record against Froggy High.
Love it.

ClickClack · Post by **ClickClack** » Sun Oct 23, 2011 10:38 am

Come on, fans can't come on here and question our QB after each loss. mcD was off tonight & the O line gave him absolutley no time to throw the ball. The receivers didn't help out to much either, the southern miss db's were very good. let's not forget mcD didn't have two of our top three receivers for basically the whole 2nd half. McD has earned the fans support and showed he is capable of running this offense at a high level. We had a bad game, the entire offense had a bad game..not just McD.

I think fans expectations got a bit inflated after rattling off five straight wins. At the begining of the year most on the board thought he would have between 3 and 5 losses this season. We are still on track to get a re match with southern miss. Will it be easy? certainly not. On the road against Tulsa and especially on the road against Houston will be really tough games. But hey, we still control our own destiny to get to the c usa championship.

Pony_Law · Post by **Pony_Law** » Sun Oct 23, 2011 10:43 am

YOu can't ask the WR to make rediculous 1 handed catched on balls thrown behind them. When they pull that off its a great highlight reel play. Also McDermott got two players hurt with his inaccuracy which is what has me so upset.

PonyPatrol · Post by **PonyPatrol** » Sun Oct 23, 2011 10:47 am

Listen, I know questioning our QBs may appear to be a complete knee jerk reaction, but it's a bigger problem than last night. I'm glad to have had McD come in and compete like he has this year, but take a look at the numbers: he's the 7th rated QB in CUSA. We're a pass first offense in a poor defensive conference. That just shouldn't cut it after 4 years in the R&S.

Furthermore, I would like nothing more than Padron to come back next year and replicate the Hawaii Bowl for 12 straight weeks. I agree that he does have talent. I also recognize that there's a good reason he's not even playing this year.

smuuth · Post by **smuuth** » Sun Oct 23, 2011 10:48 am

If I have learned anything over the years it is to not over-react after a win or a loss. The qb position is high profile but everyone has to perform. Is it adifferent outcome if we make the early field goal, if our d-line doesn't keep jumping offsides, if our sr o-line keeps their focus and doesn't jump 5 or 6 times, if two of our starting receivers aren't knocked out, if another two receivers aren't able to play 100% causing a USM db to sit on a deep out route for an int td, if we weern't coming off two big emotional wins, if USM didn't have a favorable open date to give them two weeks to get healthy and prepare for us? Yea, the easiest thing would be to blame the qb but without him I say we are maybe sitting 3-4 instead of 5-2!

ClickClack · Post by **ClickClack** » Sun Oct 23, 2011 10:48 am

got two players hurt with his in accuracy? The ball to Thompson was right on the money and hit him in the hands...could it had a little more zip on it? yeah, probably. But the db made a great read and a great break on the ball and layed a great hit.

sbsmith · Post by **sbsmith** » Sun Oct 23, 2011 10:52 am

ClickClack wrote:got two players hurt with his in accuracy? The ball to Thompson was right on the money and hit him in the hands...could it had a little more zip on it? yeah, probably. But the db made a great read and a great break on the ball and layed a great hit.

That ball to Thompson was late, yes when McD finally got it there it hit him in hands but had it been on time that DB wouldn't have been right up in Thompson's face ready to lay him out. You had to know he was going to get someone hurt when we ran up against a decent secondary.

Junior · Post by **Junior** » Sun Oct 23, 2011 10:55 am

Also surprised by the ridiculous number of false starts and offsides calls.

SBR Pony · Post by **SBR Pony** » Sun Oct 23, 2011 10:55 am

Regardless, I 100% think that McDermott is our guy for the year.

sbsmith · Post by **sbsmith** » Sun Oct 23, 2011 11:04 am

SBR Pony wrote:Regardless, I 100% think that McDermott is our guy for the year.

True, there's too much left to play for to either hand it over to a guy we already know can't get it done or an underclassman. McD is the best option we have at QB.

RyanSMU98 · Post by **RyanSMU98** » Sun Oct 23, 2011 11:07 am

Agreed. McDermott had an off night; hell, I'm surprised it took him til now to have it. The real test will be how quickly he shakes it off. Hopefully the "snap and clear" philosophy has really sunk in and he can come roaring back against Tulsa.

SBR Pony · Post by **SBR Pony** » Sun Oct 23, 2011 11:09 am

Hard to "snap and clear" when you have to

"snap, bend over to catch ball at shin, stand back up, read, try to not get sacked, clear"