Beyond the White and Gold

Too much of a good thing is not something many people would pass up. But if it’s football season, and the good thing is quarterback talent, two can be too much.

It happens at every level of play: an experienced quarterback leaves or takes a turn for the worse, and the backup starts doing everything right. An injury to the team leader lets a backup shine, and then the injury heals. Do you keep the momentum going? Do you go back to the battle-tested veteran? Few things can be such a thorn in the side of a season as a quarterback controversy, or as difficult to resolve.

It is especially difficult when an elite program has one quarterback too many that is ready to play. At LSU, it has become a question between JaMarcus Russel or Marcus Randall. So contentious a situation that Coach Nick Saban no longer discusses it with the media, and the defending national co-champions are no longer a good bet to repeat. It is a stress on every member of the team when the leader is in question. But it is not always a bad thing.

In the NFL highly touted New York Giants rookie Eli Manning lost the starting job under center to former league and Super Bowl MVP Kurt Warner after a very competitive training camp. Put to the test, and knowing that the future of the franchise is waiting to prove for him, Warner looks as if he is returning to the form that earned him such acclaim with the Rams.

Tech doesn’t have a quarterback controversy-yet. But maybe it needs one. Tech, and Reggie Ball are cementing a reputation for themselves as a team that plays to the level of their opponent. This is making the Jackets an upset team-either the opponent is beaten when the Jackets were expected to do little against them, or a lowly opponent upsets the favored Tech squad. This up-and-down can be seen in Ball as well.

In games against North Carolina and Miami, Ball threw 6 interceptions, and then he rebounded with almost 200 yards through the air and no turnovers against Maryland. Inconsistency can only be blamed on youthful inexperience for so long. At some point, one must look to find other culprits.

So if Tech football responds to pressure, then give them some. No athlete makes it to this level of play unless they are hungry for playing time. Give touted redshirt freshman Patrick Carter some time at the helm. After all, starting a freshman is certainly not unprecedented.

The passing game does not need to bear the load for this team. That burden has been carried well by P.J. Daniels. All putting the ball in the air is to keep the defense honest and not allow them to cheat so strongly towards the run that the very effective offensive line cannot give Daniels the daylight he needs.

North Carolina’s coach, John Bunting, told his defense that only one starter had any job security. An upset over Tech and another over North Carolina State have been the result. Sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to name it and put it squarely out in public view for all to see.

Tech has a mobile, effective quarterback when Reggie Ball is on his game. If the pressure of perhaps riding the bench, of maybe watching someone else being carried off the field on the fan’s shoulders gets the young quarterback to play his best in every game, then Tech has a shot at victory in every game, not just the ones they are not expected to win.

And if the pressure is a detriment to his play, then another man taking the snaps might be just the change of pace the team needs to keep its level of play at the height of its talents.