Changing Of The Guard At Quarterback
posted by Scott Hood, Tuesday, December 04, 2007
The Stephen Garcia Era at South Carolina has begun.
Steve Spurrier uttered his name on several occasions during the frustrating and nightmarish five-game losing streak that closed out Spurrier’s third season as USC head coach.
Each time, he extolled Garcia’s virtues, particularly his ability to escape trouble when the pocket collapses and run for “five, six, seven yards,” as Spurrier often exclaimed.
But before we say hello to Garcia, we must say goodbye to Blake Mitchell.
Despite passing for nearly 6,000 yards, Mitchell leaves USC as one of the most enigmatic figures in recent memory. When Mitchell was good, he was very good, if not great.
But when he was bad, it was maddening for USC fans to watch.
The one question for me that will linger about Mitchell: how good could he have been had he played behind a decent offensive line for three years?
The passing combination of Mitchell and Sidney Rice will go down as most of the most prolific in school history. Mitchell knew how to throw the fade pass and Rice knew how to catch it.
When the pair was clicking, it was poetry in motion.
Unfortunately, those moments were few and far between. There’s no question Mitchell was adversely affected by the absence of Rice this season.
Mitchell never seemed to develop a chemistry with wide receiver Kenny McKinley until late in the season. McKinley was a different type of receiver than Rice, as we all know. He caught most of his passes over the middle rather than along the sidelines as Rice did.
Unfortunately, because of his reserve nature, I don’t think Mitchell developed into a great leader. Mitchell rarely showed emotion, whether it was on the field or the sidelines or speaking with the media.
I don’t think Mitchell fully embraced the expectations of being the No. 1 quarterback for the Palmetto State’s flagship university, or being the starting quarterback for a Steve Spurrier-coached team.
The media glare was a bit much for Mitchell, who grew up in the small town of LaGrange, Ga. He played it close to the vest most of the time. As a result, I’m not sure any of us – fans or media - got to know Mitchell very well.
That’s too bad, because I suspect underneath all those layers of insulation is a very likeable and genuine guy eager to get out.
My greatest fear about Mitchell? When he accepts his diploma in a couple of weeks and walks off the stage, he’ll never set foot on the USC campus again.
That would truly be tragic.
Garcia, on the other hand, appears to be much different than Mitchell. He has an outgoing personality, the long hair, and the charming looks to match. As my wife reminded me, he’s easy on the eyes.
But he’s pretty good football player, too. He showed off a cannon arm during the early stages of fall camp when the public was allowed to watch the workouts.
Just in terms of physical ability, he was the clearly best quarterback on the roster this fall. If you believe the reports, he was a sensation on the scout team.
But let's get one thing straight: Garcia is not the 'savior' of the USC program. He'd just laugh - not to mention Spurrier - at the preposterous thought he was saving anything.
No, Garcia will gladly leave that savior stuff to his good friend Willy Korn.
I know many fans anticipated Garcia playing this past season. But because he hadn’t fully grasped the offensive system (thanks, in part to his suspenion from spring practice), Spurrier resisted the urge to play him. Sunday, Spurrier said Garcia “still had a lot to learn.”
Let’s hope he learns fast. I’m sure he will, because Garcia is more intelligent than he lets on. Two of his older brothers went to Harvard, so the gene pool is good.
With Chris Smelley and Tommy Beecher still around, I know one thing: spring practice will be fun. It could be a battle royale, especially between Smelley and Garcia.
Smelley, like most Division I quarterbacks, wants to play. He was magnificent in the Mississippi State and Kentucky games, as well as the first half of the North Carolina game. After that, his performance fell off.
Still, Smelley, like all competitors, wasn’t happy when he lost his starting job to Mitchell, so I’m sure he’ll battle hard to regain the top job. He’ll be ready when spring practice starts.
I’m sure he’s tired of hearing all of the Garcia talk.
Gazing into my very cloudy crystal ball, I expect Garcia and Smelley will share snaps next season, offering different looks and tendencies to opposing defenses.
If one of them emerges as the clear-cut favorite, so be it.
May the best quarterback win.
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The moment we knew Sunday afternoon that South Carolina wasn’t going to a bowl game, the torch was officially passed.
The Stephen Garcia Era at South Carolina has begun.
Steve Spurrier uttered his name on several occasions during the frustrating and nightmarish five-game losing streak that closed out Spurrier’s third season as USC head coach.
Each time, he extolled Garcia’s virtues, particularly his ability to escape trouble when the pocket collapses and run for “five, six, seven yards,” as Spurrier often exclaimed.
But before we say hello to Garcia, we must say goodbye to Blake Mitchell.
Despite passing for nearly 6,000 yards, Mitchell leaves USC as one of the most enigmatic figures in recent memory. When Mitchell was good, he was very good, if not great.
But when he was bad, it was maddening for USC fans to watch.
The one question for me that will linger about Mitchell: how good could he have been had he played behind a decent offensive line for three years?
The passing combination of Mitchell and Sidney Rice will go down as most of the most prolific in school history. Mitchell knew how to throw the fade pass and Rice knew how to catch it.
When the pair was clicking, it was poetry in motion.
Unfortunately, those moments were few and far between. There’s no question Mitchell was adversely affected by the absence of Rice this season.
Mitchell never seemed to develop a chemistry with wide receiver Kenny McKinley until late in the season. McKinley was a different type of receiver than Rice, as we all know. He caught most of his passes over the middle rather than along the sidelines as Rice did.
Unfortunately, because of his reserve nature, I don’t think Mitchell developed into a great leader. Mitchell rarely showed emotion, whether it was on the field or the sidelines or speaking with the media.
I don’t think Mitchell fully embraced the expectations of being the No. 1 quarterback for the Palmetto State’s flagship university, or being the starting quarterback for a Steve Spurrier-coached team.
The media glare was a bit much for Mitchell, who grew up in the small town of LaGrange, Ga. He played it close to the vest most of the time. As a result, I’m not sure any of us – fans or media - got to know Mitchell very well.
That’s too bad, because I suspect underneath all those layers of insulation is a very likeable and genuine guy eager to get out.
My greatest fear about Mitchell? When he accepts his diploma in a couple of weeks and walks off the stage, he’ll never set foot on the USC campus again.
That would truly be tragic.
Garcia, on the other hand, appears to be much different than Mitchell. He has an outgoing personality, the long hair, and the charming looks to match. As my wife reminded me, he’s easy on the eyes.
But he’s pretty good football player, too. He showed off a cannon arm during the early stages of fall camp when the public was allowed to watch the workouts.
Just in terms of physical ability, he was the clearly best quarterback on the roster this fall. If you believe the reports, he was a sensation on the scout team.
But let's get one thing straight: Garcia is not the 'savior' of the USC program. He'd just laugh - not to mention Spurrier - at the preposterous thought he was saving anything.
No, Garcia will gladly leave that savior stuff to his good friend Willy Korn.
I know many fans anticipated Garcia playing this past season. But because he hadn’t fully grasped the offensive system (thanks, in part to his suspenion from spring practice), Spurrier resisted the urge to play him. Sunday, Spurrier said Garcia “still had a lot to learn.”
Let’s hope he learns fast. I’m sure he will, because Garcia is more intelligent than he lets on. Two of his older brothers went to Harvard, so the gene pool is good.
With Chris Smelley and Tommy Beecher still around, I know one thing: spring practice will be fun. It could be a battle royale, especially between Smelley and Garcia.
Smelley, like most Division I quarterbacks, wants to play. He was magnificent in the Mississippi State and Kentucky games, as well as the first half of the North Carolina game. After that, his performance fell off.
Still, Smelley, like all competitors, wasn’t happy when he lost his starting job to Mitchell, so I’m sure he’ll battle hard to regain the top job. He’ll be ready when spring practice starts.
I’m sure he’s tired of hearing all of the Garcia talk.
Gazing into my very cloudy crystal ball, I expect Garcia and Smelley will share snaps next season, offering different looks and tendencies to opposing defenses.
If one of them emerges as the clear-cut favorite, so be it.
May the best quarterback win.
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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 @.