The Mitchell Mystique
posted by Scott Hood on Thursday, June 28, 2007
The numbers back it up. Mitchell enters the 2007 season with 4,245 passing yards, seventh on USC's all-time list. He needs just 1,437 yards to move into third place. He was benched for seven games last year and still threw for 1,789 yards, so the No. 3 spot is a virtual certainty. Here's how Mitchell presently stacks up against the best passers in school history:
1. Todd Ellis – 9,953 yards
2. Steve Taneyhill – 8,782 yards
3. Anthony Wright – 5,681 yards
4. Phil Petty – 5,652 yards
5. Tommy Suggs – 4,916 yards
6. Bobby Fuller – 4,896 yards
7. BLAKE MITCHELL – 4,245 yards.
If Mitchell stays healthy and averages 349 passing yards per game over 13 games (12 regular season games plus a bowl game; the SEC Championship game is a potential 14th game) during the 2007 season, a high number for sure but one that's not totally unattainable, he'll catch the legendary Taneyhill for second place.
Think about that for a minute. Mitchell could leave Columbia with more passing yards than even the beloved Taneyhill, one of the most charismatic and popular players USC has ever had. It's possible, but maybe not probable.
Mitchell averaged 313.5 passing yards over the last four games, and threw for 213 yards in one half against Arkansas. Obviously, that won't happen every week against teams with great defenses, but, if anything, the last 4-1/2 games of 2006 taught us not to discount Mitchell or the USC offense with Spurrier calling the plays.
But when you're taking about a fifth-year senior quarterback entering his third full season in Steve Spurrier's highly sophisticated offense, it doesn't seem so far-fetched.
I get the sense that a lot of USC fans don't know what to make of Mitchell. He can look brilliant one minute, awful the next. But, when it comes to the 2007 season, Mitchell is something else: indispensable.
If USC wants to reach head coach Steve Spurrier's goal of winning a SEC championship, Mitchell must play, and play well. He has the most experience and knows the offense a lot better. The other quarterbacks simply aren't ready. Chris Smelley has promise but he's only a redshirt freshman after receiving a medical redshirt. He's the odds-on favorite to become the starter in 2008.
Tommy Beecher saw limited action last season but, in my opinion, is third right now behind Mitchell and Smelley. Stephen Garcia, suspended for the spring, hasn't even taken a snap yet in practice, so I wouldn't count on him to contribute this season. He'd best be served by a redshirt season. Let's put in easy understandable terms: If Garcia plays in 2007, the quarterback position has major problems.
Like any good quarterback, Mitchell can't do it alone. He needs an effective running game to keep defenses honest and an offensive line that knows how to block. Mike Davis missed the entire spring recovering from arthroscopic surgery and Cory Boyd missed several practices because of a class conflict.
He also needs receivers who can catch the football. Spurrier often said this spring that Kenny McKinley was the only receiver who has showed he has the speed and skill to beat SEC defensive backs downfield. Right now, receivers like Moe Brown, Freddie Brown, Jared Cook, Mike West and Larry Freeman are adequate at best. Don't be surprised if true freshmen such as Chris Culliver and Jason Barnes overtake them on the depth chart.
The offensive line? Well, Spurrier accurately described their performance in the spring games as dreadful. They were overwhelmed by USC's deep and talented defensive line. Conversely, the offensive line doesn't have enough depth right now in terms of playing experience to break the unit into two groups, as happened in the spring game.
The product of the offensive line's poor play was predictable: Mitchell struggled mightily, completing just 13-of-39 passes for 150 yards. Unfortunately, that's the last time USC fans have seen Mitchell play and most, I'm sure, went away from the game with rancid recall.
However, I believe the outlook will get a whole lot brighter in the fall with Davis and Boyd in the backfield and when USC settles on a starting five for the offensive line, which has plenty of potential that just hasn't had time to develop yet.
As a result of the offensive line's poor performance in the spring game, people have quickly forgotten that USC surrendered just six sacks over the final five games in 2006. No quarterback will shine when he's laying flat on his back all the time.
I've heard some people claim Mitchell's contributions to the season-ending three-game winning streak are "overrated." Okay, I agree that quarterbacks typically get too much credit or blame depending on how well the team does.
But USC's outlandish offensive numbers over the last three games with Mitchell at the controls don't lie. The Gamecocks averaged 516.3 yards and 42.3 points against Middle Tennessee State, Clemson and Houston. The Tiger defense that was the pride and joy of the Upstate was ripped to shreds for 492 yards.
Does Mitchell have his shortcoming? Absolutely. He panics too quickly when the pocket collapses and tends to rush throws at times. He also struggles against zones (the final interception against Arkansas is the best example) and suffers from a nagging case of "happy feet" from time to time.
While fans can debate numbers all day long, there's really only one statistic that truly matters when you're evaluating a quarterback: win-loss percentage.
In that regard, USC is 11-6 when Mitchell is the starting quarterback in his
career.
There is only one conclusion: Blake Mitchell is a winner.
As I said, the numbers don't lie.
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Here's something you didn't know about South Carolina's Blake Mitchell – he has an excellent chance to leave USC after the upcoming season as the third best throwing quarterback in school history.
The numbers back it up. Mitchell enters the 2007 season with 4,245 passing yards, seventh on USC's all-time list. He needs just 1,437 yards to move into third place. He was benched for seven games last year and still threw for 1,789 yards, so the No. 3 spot is a virtual certainty. Here's how Mitchell presently stacks up against the best passers in school history:
1. Todd Ellis – 9,953 yards
2. Steve Taneyhill – 8,782 yards
3. Anthony Wright – 5,681 yards
4. Phil Petty – 5,652 yards
5. Tommy Suggs – 4,916 yards
6. Bobby Fuller – 4,896 yards
7. BLAKE MITCHELL – 4,245 yards.
If Mitchell stays healthy and averages 349 passing yards per game over 13 games (12 regular season games plus a bowl game; the SEC Championship game is a potential 14th game) during the 2007 season, a high number for sure but one that's not totally unattainable, he'll catch the legendary Taneyhill for second place.
Think about that for a minute. Mitchell could leave Columbia with more passing yards than even the beloved Taneyhill, one of the most charismatic and popular players USC has ever had. It's possible, but maybe not probable.
Mitchell averaged 313.5 passing yards over the last four games, and threw for 213 yards in one half against Arkansas. Obviously, that won't happen every week against teams with great defenses, but, if anything, the last 4-1/2 games of 2006 taught us not to discount Mitchell or the USC offense with Spurrier calling the plays.
But when you're taking about a fifth-year senior quarterback entering his third full season in Steve Spurrier's highly sophisticated offense, it doesn't seem so far-fetched.
I get the sense that a lot of USC fans don't know what to make of Mitchell. He can look brilliant one minute, awful the next. But, when it comes to the 2007 season, Mitchell is something else: indispensable.
If USC wants to reach head coach Steve Spurrier's goal of winning a SEC championship, Mitchell must play, and play well. He has the most experience and knows the offense a lot better. The other quarterbacks simply aren't ready. Chris Smelley has promise but he's only a redshirt freshman after receiving a medical redshirt. He's the odds-on favorite to become the starter in 2008.
Tommy Beecher saw limited action last season but, in my opinion, is third right now behind Mitchell and Smelley. Stephen Garcia, suspended for the spring, hasn't even taken a snap yet in practice, so I wouldn't count on him to contribute this season. He'd best be served by a redshirt season. Let's put in easy understandable terms: If Garcia plays in 2007, the quarterback position has major problems.
Like any good quarterback, Mitchell can't do it alone. He needs an effective running game to keep defenses honest and an offensive line that knows how to block. Mike Davis missed the entire spring recovering from arthroscopic surgery and Cory Boyd missed several practices because of a class conflict.
He also needs receivers who can catch the football. Spurrier often said this spring that Kenny McKinley was the only receiver who has showed he has the speed and skill to beat SEC defensive backs downfield. Right now, receivers like Moe Brown, Freddie Brown, Jared Cook, Mike West and Larry Freeman are adequate at best. Don't be surprised if true freshmen such as Chris Culliver and Jason Barnes overtake them on the depth chart.
The offensive line? Well, Spurrier accurately described their performance in the spring games as dreadful. They were overwhelmed by USC's deep and talented defensive line. Conversely, the offensive line doesn't have enough depth right now in terms of playing experience to break the unit into two groups, as happened in the spring game.
The product of the offensive line's poor play was predictable: Mitchell struggled mightily, completing just 13-of-39 passes for 150 yards. Unfortunately, that's the last time USC fans have seen Mitchell play and most, I'm sure, went away from the game with rancid recall.
However, I believe the outlook will get a whole lot brighter in the fall with Davis and Boyd in the backfield and when USC settles on a starting five for the offensive line, which has plenty of potential that just hasn't had time to develop yet.
As a result of the offensive line's poor performance in the spring game, people have quickly forgotten that USC surrendered just six sacks over the final five games in 2006. No quarterback will shine when he's laying flat on his back all the time.
I've heard some people claim Mitchell's contributions to the season-ending three-game winning streak are "overrated." Okay, I agree that quarterbacks typically get too much credit or blame depending on how well the team does.
But USC's outlandish offensive numbers over the last three games with Mitchell at the controls don't lie. The Gamecocks averaged 516.3 yards and 42.3 points against Middle Tennessee State, Clemson and Houston. The Tiger defense that was the pride and joy of the Upstate was ripped to shreds for 492 yards.
Does Mitchell have his shortcoming? Absolutely. He panics too quickly when the pocket collapses and tends to rush throws at times. He also struggles against zones (the final interception against Arkansas is the best example) and suffers from a nagging case of "happy feet" from time to time.
While fans can debate numbers all day long, there's really only one statistic that truly matters when you're evaluating a quarterback: win-loss percentage.
In that regard, USC is 11-6 when Mitchell is the starting quarterback in his
career.
There is only one conclusion: Blake Mitchell is a winner.
As I said, the numbers don't lie.
- Permalink, Discuss, Blog Home
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Scott Hood. Since February of 2005, Scott has covered the South Carolina football, men's basketball and baseball programs for GamecockCentral. He may be reached by email at scottblog(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.