With the opening of the 2012 college football season two weeks away, coaches around the Southeastern Conference are busy trying to put finishing touches on depth charts while also beginning to get down to serious game planning.
For some, it is easier. There are the usual suspects in the opening weekend such as Jackson State, S.E. Louisiana, Central Arkansas, Buffalo and Bowling Green that all appear on SEC opening weekend schedules.
But there are also an unusual number of heavyweights as well, games that demand serious game planning. Alabama plays Michigan. Auburn plays Clemson. Tennessee plays NC State. Kentucky meets Louisville. And South Carolina and Vanderbilt meet in a first week conference game.
Around the league, position battles are becoming structured. But in a couple of places, the most important position—quarterback —is unsettled. There is still uncertainty at Auburn and Florida, but things are a little clearer at schools where there are incumbents back.
Alabama is set with AJ McCarron. Aaron Murray is solid at Georgia, as is James Franklin at Missouri. Connor Shaw is the man at South Carolina. Zach Mettenberger has a hold on the job at LSU, and Jordan Rodgers looks like the guy at Vanderbilt. And of course, there are the three Tylers — Wilson at Arkansas, Bray at Tennessee and Russell at Mississippi State.
But around the rest of the league, Saturday scrimmaged are good for separating players vying for playing time. This Saturday was no different.
Saturday’s Kentucky scrimmage might have helped establish the pecking order between senior Morgan Newton and sophomore Maxwell Smith, according to coach Joker Phillips.
“(The) Quarterbacks didn’t turn ball over; operated for the most part with efficiency,” Phillips said. “I’m looking forward to watching this tape.
“We have to make sure we take a look at this and be fair to everybody involved,” he said. “It’s hard to say now that we have a decision, we’ve already come up with a decision. To be fair to this football team and to the guys involved, we have to go watch the film. Sometimes (when) you’re out here with the naked eye, it’s hard to evaluate.”
It doesn’t always happen when coaches think it should. At Auburn, sophomore Kiehl Frazier and junior Clint Moseley are rumored to be in a tight battle — although there are rumblings that Frazier is the man — but Saturday’s scrimmage didn’t settle anything.
“Our quarterbacks—there’s nobody stepping forward right now and that’s disappointing. To me, there hasn’t been separation. We’re going to continue to work at it,” said Tigers head coach Gene Chizik.
Last season, Moseley threw for 800 yards and five touchdowns in 10 games compared to Frazier, who played in 13 games but threw for only 34 yards on 5-of-12 passing.
Sophomore Jeff Driskel missed some reps at Florida early in the week after he suffered a slight injury to his non-throwing left shoulder. But coach Will Muschamp said the injury wouldn’t necessarily impact the quarterback battle with fellow sophomore Jacoby Brissett.
“It’s been up and down,” said new offensive coordinator Wayne Pease of the competition. “The thing I’ve seen from both of them is this: they both have gotten better in all aspects of their game. If they can get better to where both can manage [games] and make plays, then that’s really what we’re striving for.
“I don’t know if he gained anything or went ahead,” Pease said of Brissett’s extra reps this week. “When you get more reps, it’s going to make you better naturally because you’re seeing more things.”
There is one other big battle among SEC quarterbacks and that is at Ole Miss, where junior Barry Brunetti and sophomore Bo Wallace are in competition to start for Hugh Freeze’s Rebels. As of now, Wallace appears to be the leader to win the race.
In Saturday’s scrimmage, Wallace scored on a 12-yard run and threw a touchdown pass.
“I thought the quarterbacks played OK,” Freeze said. “There were a couple of things I was not happy with, but they were a little more consistent today.”
The biggest quarterback news of the weekend came when Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin announced that freshman Johnny Manziel had won the starting job over sophomore Jameill Showers.
“Johnny has performed the best at this stage and we will proceed until the season opener with him getting the first-team reps,” Sumlin said. “My policy is simple really; the best player plays. Competition is a great thing and we need more competition at all of our positions. All of our quarterbacks have competed well, and I expect them to continue to push Johnny.”