Well its time for me to put on my writer's hat once again as we look ahead to the 2010 season (thanks to Sly for inspiring me with his posting of opponent previews).
As we count down the last weeks until training camp and the season opener on September 4, I'll be posting my thoughts and breakdown of the various positions each Wednesday. Today we start with probably the most talked about position last year, the QB.
Going into 2009 there was a lot of debate (especially on here) as to who would be the new face under center for the Liberty Flames. Brock Smith completed an amazing four year stretch being named to the Big South First team all conference and leaving his mark in a number of QB statistics all time (finishing third in passing yards, second in TD passes, tops in passing efficiency and second in completion percentage, and to put the icing on the cake, second in total offense), his would be very big shoes to fill (figuratively and literally). Mike Brown and Spencer Landis were seen as the two looking to battle for that spot going into the spring, and then a new face joined the party...South Carolina QB Tommy Beecher left Columbia and he landed himself in Lynchburg, VA. Beecher missed the spring practice but when preseason rolled around, it was Beecher and Mike Brown who would be battling for the starting spot with Landis moving behind redshirt freshman Tyler Brennan. Brown's dynamic playmaking abilities were not lost on the coaching staff, so when the season opener against West VIrginia from the Big East rolled around, he was listed as a WR and Beecher was the starting QB.
The quasi-2 QB system worked as Beecher finished the season with 1700 yards passing and nine TDs on the way to being named second team all conference while Brown left his mark all over the stat sheet, finishing as the team's leading rusher, second leading passer (behind Beecher) and the team's leading receiver.
Now its 2010. Beecher has graduated and moved on and Mike Brown is "the man" at QB. He still will get his chances at WR but if Brown is to make his own mark this season it will be with his arm and his legs.
Quarterback
Players lost:
Tommy Beecher
Spencer Landis
Players returning:
Mike Brown
Tyler Brennan
Brian Hudson (2009 redshirt)
Players incoming:
Brian Reese 6-2 220 Lbs Chambersburg, PA (Walk-on)
Gabriel Henderson 5-11 190 Lbs Garner, NC (2010 signee)
This position is Mike Brown's to lose. He will be spending "75%" of the offensive snaps as the QB, but he will have a few opportunities to split out and show his gamebreaking ability, and for those moments, look for Tyler Brennan to get his opportunity to show what he can do. In a sense this will be like a two year audition of sorts for Brennan as Brown likely will be the starter for the next two seasons, but look for Brian Hudson to push him, especially as he gets his chances to show his skills (most likely in late game situations where the score has already been decided). The real interesting situation at this position is likely going to be for the 2012 season as Class of 2010 signee Gabe Henderson will enter the mix along with walk-on Brian Reese. Look for both to redshirt this season unless there is an injury to one of the other three QBs on the roster.
No comments:
Post a Comment